


Greek Mythology AU - Jarida

by TheGreenPrism



Category: Brave (2012), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: F/M, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Jarida - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-15 15:49:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 85,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7228813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreenPrism/pseuds/TheGreenPrism
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which I decided to rewrite my old fic of Jack and Merida in old Greece.<br/>Man, what a mistake...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Don't butt in, Redhead!

**Author's Note:**

> A crappy Greek Mythology AU with Jarida in which I attempt a cliché fic of Romeo and Juliet

“Jackson! Hey Jack-ass, your coffee is ready!” Merida yelled from behind the counter.

The youngster with his auburn coloured hair looked up from his seat raising an eyebrow. Was the nickname necessary?

She threw an amused smile and sat the cold drink down on the counter to continue with another order.

Jackson stood up to get his drink, immediately sat it down again and narrowed his eyebrows towards her. “That’s it, I want a new one.”

The redhead jumped up and sassily laid her hand on her hip. “If you’re worried that I poisoned it, don’t. I doubled it this time to be sure.” 

With a dead serious expression, he leaned over the counter to whisper to her. “I’m immune to your witchcraft. You keep on trying, red. You’re never getting rid of me.” Before she could answer he raised his hand. “But that’s not why you have to give me another coffee.”

“Not cold enough for your frozen heart?”

He grabbed his chest as if her comment caused him physical pain and fake laughed. “Haha, very funny but no.”

He turned the plastic cup so the little fancy handwriting of the Scot turned her way. She quickly failed to hold back a snort. Trying to hide her laugh behind her hand she took an attempt to look at the cup with a plain expression as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

She attempted a shrug. “What about it?”

“Jake?” He found her eyes but couldn’t share the same humour.

She leaned on the wood of the counter and took the cup to study it. “Uhm, that’s how your write it, right?”

“Meri.” His dark tone made her look up to him. He wanted to make clear he didn’t find this at all funny.

She leaned in. “What is it, Jake?”

“I’m not going to get another coffee, am I?”

“Not even I you ask me nicely, Jack.” She grinned.

He fought the urge to demolish the little cup but instead walked back to his seat with defeat. 

“How did she write your name this time?” Hiccup asked once he sat back down across him.

Jack didn’t even bother answering. He turned the cup for it to face his friend.

Compared to the devilish redhead, Hiccup could hold back his laughter and looked up from his books to threw him a compassionate smile. “She’s never going to write it correct. You know that, right?”

“That demon will start writing names like Jane or Janice before she’ll finally do it right.”

He eventually took a zip from his cold drink. The thought of it might containing poison crossed his mind briefly and almost made him grin. She could try if she wanted to.

“How did you guys even start acting like this, it’s been months. I thought you two met when our colleges started that competition a year ago.”

“And the Pantheon University will always remain the mortal enemy of Meri’s College of dimwits.”

He continued drinking until he felt the cold clinging onto his lunges. Something about the feeling of having a slight difficulty with breathing caused by cold satisfied him.

To be fair his peril with Dunbroch started out a little rockier. For odd reasons the two never really got along. Merida always acted like she was better at everything she did and in return Jack was often rude when he encountered her at her work. Of course, he could avoid her by going to another coffee shop but then he had to miss out on the good coffee.

“Well, the Pantheon University will always be slightly better but that’s only my opinion.”

Hiccup chuckled and returned back to his books.

Jack shuffled himself in a better position on his seat.

“How are the exams going?” Jackson didn’t even bother studying for his. He already had five exams to redo from his first semester and the second wasn’t looking good either. He didn’t blame himself too much for it though. The study he picked didn’t even fit him. The subjects were awfully boring and the job possibilities were shit. But he didn’t know what else to do. His family had insisted that he had to follow linguistics but he rather hung out with his uncle’s toyshop. Even worse after last year, he had to relearn a lot of courses.

“Just the regular.” Hiccup shrugged. “Mechanics become easy once you know the basics.”

He attempted to explain one of the exercises written down on his notepad but Jack immediately waved his hand towards him to stop.

“Don’t get started with your ancient talk. I won’t understand anything.”

Hiccup rolled his eyes. “Don’t you need to study?”

His friend took out a book from his bag. “Punzie gave me this book on worldwide literature during class but I know I’m going to fuck it up anyway. So I haven’t been able to get passed the first two chapters.”

Hiccup let out a snort and took the book to examine it. “Alright, question time.”

Jack moaned and let himself sink in his seat as if the first question already exhausted him.. _please don’t torture me with this crap, Hiccup!_  

Hiccup ignored the agonizing moan of his best friend and searched an easy chapter. “A popular tale of a hero in old England who defeated Grendel and a dragon guarding a treasure. Who am I talking about?”

Jackson shrugged. “King Arthur!” He cheered hoping his joyful answer would suffice.

A loud laugh enacted from the other side of the room. “Gah, you smart-ass. He’s talking about Beowulf.”

“Don’t butt in!” Jack yelled at her.

Besides him and Hiccup the café was completely empty. However that didn’t give her the right to push her nose in his business. _Doesn’t she have stockings to refill or anything?_  

Merida shook her head and continued her work. Not that she had a lot to do. The coffee shop she worked at barely had any costumers besides the two idiots who came by every weekend to hang out. _How can these guys even survive staying here all day. There isn’t even any Wi-Fi in here. Don’t they got anything better to do?_   

Hiccup pulled a painful grimace. “She’s right though.”

Jackson put his hands in the holes of his sweater and sighed. “I don’t care anymore.”

“Let’s try one more time.” He scanned through a few chapters when he stopped at Greek Mythology. “Two cities in Greece who were mortal enemies.”

The only thing Jackson could think of was Athens. It was the capital of Greece. _Look at you, Overland. You know something._  “Athens.”

“Yeah, you got one. And the other?”

“No clue.”

“Think of the movie _300_.” Hiccup tried.

“Never seen it.” Jackson sighed.

“Sparta.” Hiccup started reading the rest of the page. “I never knew there were myths about the cities though.”

“Well, not many but there are hundreds of myths from all over Greece. Mostly passed on orally so there are multiple versions of one story.”

“Hey, you picked up something from your classes.”

“That’s because Punzie doesn’t shut up about it during our breaks.”

The blonde was one of the few people he liked hanging out with during the classes of literature. But she couldn’t keep herself shut when one of her favourite stories came up as a topic. But he liked listening to them. It was one of the little things he appreciated during the long hours he spend at University.

“There’s one about how Athena became the goddess representing Athens and some about Ares and his sons or his affair with Aphrodite.”

“What about the Athenian and the Spartan?” Hiccup asked. “Mmh, there are no names though.”

“The what and the who now?” Jackson almost choked on the last zip of his drink.

“I’ve never heard of it but there’s a story of it in Punzie’s book.” His best friend shrugged. “Did she talk about this one?”

Jackson tried to search his mind for the title but the only thing that came up was Rapunzel’s fangirling about Shakespeare and Grimm.

“Your first test is about mythology, right?”

“Myeah, so?”

“Do you think your professor will ask particular details?”

“I don’t even know if it’s a he or a she.” Jackson admitted.

“Are you that braindead during class?”

“He’s always braindead!” Merida butted in again.

“Will you keep yourself out of my business, Ginger!” Jackson almost jumped off his seat.

She grunted at the nickname but quickly restrained herself. “Oh you wee-lamb, you are so doomed.” She rested her head on her hands and threw him a smile.

He wanted to walk up to her and smack that little irritating smile right of her pretty little face. It annoyed him and she knew it. She used it. It was a weapon of her he despised.

“Hiccup, read it to me.” He said in a demanding tone.

“Sure, it’s not like I have exams myself.” He shrugged.

“Which you probably already memorized to the every letter. Hiccup, help me and read it to me”

“Can’t you do it yourself?”

“Of course, if I want to take a nap. I’ll be out after two sentences.” He threw his thumb up as if it was a great idea.

Hiccup grunted. “Fine, whatevs.” He mumbled.

 

 

 


	2. It's always fun making new friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack gets his ass kicked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the spaces in the previous chapter, i had problems adjusting to AO3  
> Have fun reading
> 
> EDIT: I now have revised the chapter. Small errors that i have overlooked are now corrected.

“So they can’t see you?”

The goddess’ expression stayed plain. “Only my priestess and when I want them to.”

“Then how do they keep believing in you? For all they know, she could be making everything up that you tell her.”

She laid her hand on his shoulder and looked into the icy blue eyes he shared with her. “I am capable of many things with my powers and so are you, Jack. If they don’t believe. Make them.”

He shared a smile with her and felt proud he shared the same powers as the goddess of Wisdom, Athena. _I am a demigod. A demigod of wisdom and natural forces._ He wanted to ask more question when her gaze switched to the priestess walking towards the giant statue of the goddess. Others followed and watched as the priestess kneeled and started praying for their daily answers.

Athena looked down at the thin brunette and nodded satisfied when the girl spoke out her praise to the goddess of justice and fight. After a few minutes the goddess started whispering in the girl’s ear. The priestess willingly listened and grinned gloriously as she heard the almighty voice ring in her ear.

Jack had to hold back his laugh at the sight of the girl having such faith in the female voice she heard out of nowhere. He studied the rest of the temple of the Acropolis. Compared to other temples, his mother’s was the most impressive. He was glad he didn’t share the same fate as many demigods had. Some were abandoned by their biological parents or unacknowledged by their godlike parent. Jack on the other hand, had the luck that his mother had found him and had immediately taken him in to train his powers. She was tough, she was severe and mostly cold but somewhere in the back of his head he knew she cared about him behind that mask made of stone.

The priestess spoke Athena’s words to the rest and Athena watched as they agreed to follow her orders. This would probably take a long time again, as it did every week. He felt uneasy and started rocking back and forth on the back of his bare feet. He wasn’t very fond of sandals or anything that kept him from having the feeling of grass against his bare feet. 

“Strangers are closing in on one of our harbours. Some say they are a group and other say it is someone working alone. They’re sabotaging ships and stockings.” The priestess suddenly said. It caught Jack’s attention as he quickly saw his mother’s expression turn sour. “We assume it’s the work of Spartans.”

“That is impossible. My brother doesn’t have the brains to get through these security systems.”

The Athenian harbours were mostly crammed with guards and border controls. If any troubles were caused, it surely had to be either someone with the same intelligence as an Athenian or a supernatural force. As always he seemed to share the same thought as his mother. She glanced over her shoulder to her son and grinned. “Does it sound like anything you can handle?”

“Mother, I’m an Athenian and I was raised by the most powerful goddess of all twelve Olympic gods.” He responded arrogantly. “I think I can handle a few Spartans.”

She grinned and nodded. “As you wish.”

Jack didn’t need to hear anything more. He ran to the back of the Pantheon to grab his staff. Before he could set foot out of the temple his mother’s voice cut through him. “Jack-.”

“Mother…” He glanced over his shoulder.

“If they share the blood of a Spartan, leave no man alive.”

He nodded and swiftly made his way out. 

 

* * *

 

Long distances were no problem for the demigod. Within minutes he’d reached one of the Athenian harbours near the border of Mycenae. One of the perks of using his magical form and the wind to guide him to his destinations. With his magic he quickly found a few traders to who he made himself visible and asked about the sabotaged ships. Mostly food was missing but also valuable weapons.

“How many people are we talking about?” Jack asked them.

“We only found trails of burned paper and ashes, Lord, uhm Sir, uh-.” One of them started struggling with how to address the demigod.

Jack smiled and politely waved it away. He was proud to be a demigod but a title wasn’t necessary. “So the one behind this used fire to make their entrance?”

“Something like that.”

“Any suspicions on who it might be?”

The man he’d been talking to looked back at his friend who suddenly displayed nervous behaviour. Jack gestured him to speak.

“We think it might be Spartan. A soldier, maybe of one of their troops.”

He rolled his eyes. Besides the occasional hate between his mother and her brother, Athens and Sparta often had their little wars or fights between cities. Only those brutes didn’t have the brains. So he was willing to hunt this one down to hear his story. “Which direction do you think the man headed.” No one messed with Athenians. Especially not Spartans. He wanted to take his depart when one of the men halted him. “Uh, Jack, wait.”

“What is it?”

“It wasn’t a man.”

“Excuse me?”

“We saw a woman leaving one of the ships right after it took fire.”

Jack frowned. A female Spartan? That was unusual. Sure, the city’s civilians were nothing but thieves and warriors but he didn’t expect them to recruit females as well. But a woman or not, this was still a crime she or he committed and Jack was going to bring justice either way. That was what he stood for. What his mother and his city stood for. And he had to live up to that name. He thanked them for their help. The moment he was out of sight, he used his magic to head the direction the thief had gone.

 

* * *

  

He started to lose his patience. Hours of flying and he hadn’t picked up a single trail yet. He started to doubt if he’d taken the right direction. He even started to doubt if he was the right person to do this. He decided to land and take the rest of his journey by foot.

He was getting too close to the border which would put him in equal territory with the Spartans. Even with his power to make himself invisible to mortals, there was a small voice in the back of his mind telling him something supernatural was involved. Which made it all the more difficult for him to see what he was up against. A moment later he noticed a bag muffled behind some bushes. He held his staff in a tight grip and walked closer to study it. Once he reached it, he remarked it was half empty. Only a few arrows and two daggers were left. He picked up an arrow and immediately recognized the craftsmanship of an Athenian. The iron tip was never dull and always sharpened to maximize the damage. So the only question was: where was the rest? And who tried stealing it?

He suddenly felt a cold tip of iron touch his neck.

“Drop the arrow.”

He stiffened at the sound of a female voice. However, he had to chuckle someone dared to threaten the demigod. And never in his life had a girl aimed a weapon at him.

“Drop the arrow.” She repeated in the same harsh tone.

It either was the tip of an arrow, a spear or a sword that she pointed at his neck. So two out of three she had the upper hand. He decided to do as she asked. He dropped it and slowly tried to stand back up when her voice stopped him again.

“The stick too.”

“It’s a staff.” He responded bitterly.

 “Whatever.” She grunted. “Lay it down.”

It was just now when Jack realized the sincerity of the situation. Why didn’t it occur to him the moment she’d spoken to him? “You can see me?”

He felt the weapon distancing and saw his chance to face her. Once he stood back at his feet he examined his opponent. She looked barely sixteen to seventeen years old; wore red clothing with a bronze girdle around her waist. Her bright frizzy red hair was barely tied in a braid and had many strains of it hanging in all directions. Beside the fact he had a female Spartan aiming an arrow at him, she was appealing to the eye.

She frowned not noticing he still held the staff in his hand. “Of course, I can. And you’re touching my property. Now step away from the bag.” She ordered with dull-witted tone.

He raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me? Your property? And where exactly did my lady get it from?”

Her expression turned into disgust “None of your business. I suggest if you don’t want an arrow pierced through that dickhead of yours, you’ll leave.”

_Oh Zeus, she can’t be serious._

She moved her arrow shortly aside to point out he had to leave.

 _Oh Mother, help me. She’s serious._ He laughed and leaned his head on the top of his staff where it bended. He raised his eyebrows and watched her amused. “Sweetie, you’re barely standing a few feet away from me. That arrow won’t do much damage when you’re that close to your target.” He swung his staff and gently tapped the ground with its end. “As I might add that you’re trying to threaten a demigod.”

Before she could register what happened her feet and legs were glued to the earth with ice. “What the-?” Too thrown off by his action he pulled the hunting bow out of her hands and threw it near the bag.

“I’ll take that. Thank you very much.” He failed to hold back a laugh and swiftly walked towards her. “You know, for Spartan, you’re kind of cute.”

Her face couldn’t get a more reddish colour which started to fit her fiery hair. _This is very amusing to look at._  

“Don’t test me, you bloody Athenian.” She groaned angrily.

He ignored her comment and walked behind her to take off the shaft on her back which held the remaining arrows. “Don’t be mad at me, I’m only taking back what belongs to us.” He took it to the rest of the bag and threw back her bow without the arrows.

Now he started to think about it. Which he did a lot. If she could see him, it meant she was some sort of magical being too or one that believed in his existence which he didn’t really consider. He studied her for a few seconds more and got an idea. Life as a demigod was exciting besides the part of the hour long trainings, speeches, ceremonies and the fact he wasn’t allowed to make any friends besides rich allies from other nations or kingdoms. This was the closest he’d gotten to someone with similar powers and even a similar life. She had the same age as him (well sort of) and that sparked his interest even more. “So what are you? A nymph? A shapeshifter?”

She didn’t seem to listen to him or just flat out ignored him. Instead she studied the ice around her legs carefully.

“I hear it feels rather cold.” He remarked.

“Yeah, no shit, Oedipus!” She tried to jerk her leg free but remained trapped in the ice. “Son of Hera! You got to be kidding me!”

“Actually, it’s Athena but you got close.”

She looked up shocked with eyes widened. “What?!”

“You Spartans aren’t really smart, are you?”

“Like you’re any better.” But the realization had struck her. She didn’t deal with a water nymph but with the actual son of Athena.

He didn’t even mind covering his mouth as he busted out into laughter. Didn’t his general look give it away? The white hair? The outfit he wore? “But seriously though. Why is someone like you helping Spartan troops?”

She folded her arms, raised an eyebrow and crooked her head taking the same arrogant tone in her voice. “Why are you asking when you’re here doing all the work for mommy like a wee little son?” Her face told him she’d touched a nerve noticing his expression turn sour. She grinned.

He frowned. “You still took something that belongs to my people.”

“I can’t help it that your security systems aren’t secured against demigods. It’s like stealing an arrow from Eros. It’s that easy.”

 _Wait, stealing an arrow from that guy was easy?_ With whom was he really dealing with? “Who are you?”

“I’m not telling the son of my enemy anything.” She refused.

Jack felt his blood slowly starting to boil. Couldn’t she for once make it easy for him? He pointed his staff towards her as it starting to glow. “I’m not asking nicely anymore. I want to know your name.” He demanded.

“Do you often make friends like this or is it just the way you are in person?” She asked cocky not seeming to be scared by his threat. “Oh, or do you just not have any friends?” She added.

 _You know, you can leave any second. Just leave her here and go home._  A small voice in the back of his mind told him. But Jack stayed where he stood. Not lowering his staff.

“Is it the latter?” She asked with a grin.

He didn’t notice the hissing sound of ice melting. Instead he focused on her blushed face. “Just answer me.”

Her expression seemed to soften but just for a moment before it recaptured its cocky attitude. “My name is Merida.”

“I’ve heard that name before.” It was a thought he didn’t mean to say out loud.

She nodded. “Yeah and I’m the one who is about to burn your ass!” she moved forward breaking away from the ice and tackled him. With great strength she pinned him down and quickly overpowered him. Jack’s powers were no match to hers and as soon as he saw her hand flickering in bright flames, fear actually hit him.

He ducked to dodge her attack and tried to grab his staff but Merida was too fast and beat him to it. She picked it up and conjured in the other hand her fire magic. “Now return my weapons or the staff goes up in flames, Icicle.” She demanded barely catching up to her breath. Apparently she was a quick learner to know that Jack needed the wooden stick to control his magic.

It wasn’t the best idea. However, Jack tried to turn the situation around. Even though he wasn’t in the best situation to do so. “Fine, I’ll give them back.” _It’s not like you Spartans have any better weapons._ He swallowed that comment. “I’m just saying you’re threatening the son of Athena.”

She let out laugh. “Oh I know. I just didn’t think the son of my father’s enemy would be such a wuss.”

“Your father?”

“You don’t want to hurt his little baby-girl, trust me.”

He suddenly felt a lump in his throat. “You’re a daughter of Ares?” Not that he was afraid. He’d never thought to actually meet one. And he didn’t know he had a daughter. All his books and his mother ever told him was that Ares had only two sons. “Does he know you’re stealing weapons from us?”

“Oh he knows.” She smiled proudly of the fact her father trusted her on such a mission which was often more suited for a male. “I was the one who came up with the idea.” She picked up the bag and looked down at the staff she was still holding. Stroking her thumb over the wood, she was considering to light it up.

He swallowed painfully. He decided to pick another trail. His voice immediately seemed to pull her out of thoughts. “Before you decide on doing anything. Can I be honest with you?”

“Why out of all Athenians should I trust you?”

“Because you’re the closest I’d ever gotten to meeting another demigod.”

His comment seemed to spark something in what he now noticed to be sky-blue eyes. “My mother never gets me close to another demigod or any gods to be fair.”

“So what’s your point?”

“That this is the most fun I had in years.” He answered honestly.

“I tried to burn you!” She objected.

“Yes, I know.” He almost shouted excited. It was indeed the most fun he’d had. The fighting, the adrenaline, using his magic in that purpose, it was all new.

“You’re insane.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You’re still talking to the demigod of wisdom. Don’t step it up.”

She rolled her eyes and threw the staff in the grass in front of her feet. “Here. Now get your mother off my tail.”

“That was never part of the deal.” He frowned.

“As was interrogating me while you froze my legs!” She yelled.

“Then why are you still here?”

“What?” she glanced up at him.

“You could’ve left when you threw me my staff. And yet your Spartan butt is still here.”

She grunted irritated and wanted to leave when she stopped. She clenched her fists. “Because I don’t know your name yet.”

He felt the tension in his muscles weakening and let his arms hand beside his body. _She’s asking my name?_  “Uh, it’s Jack.”

Hundreds of questions were swirling through his mind. Was she just like him not allowed to see other demigods or nymphs? Was she a loner too? Was she even allowed to meet mortals or any other sort of life? There had to be a reason why she took the chance to know his name. And the Athenian voice in his head was rapidly searching for that answer.

She turned her back on him and glanced over her shoulder once she’d tied back her shaft on her bag. “Good.” She almost whispered.

Jack suddenly heard the sound of what could’ve been a horn. He wasn’t quite sure what to make out of it. He looked around to find out which direction it came from but failed in his attempt to locate it. Once he looked back at where the Demigoddess stood, she’d disappeared.

He frowned. That was it. She was gone without a trail for him to follow. He found no footprints whatsoever. _Okay, now I’m just disappointed._  And yet a little voice told him he wanted to see the redhead again.

He repeated the name in his head calculous times. He’d heard the name somewhere before. And not just because she was the daughter Ares. He’d read about her. Why hadn’t he known about her? He knew almost every god, demigod and hero that lived, had lived or even who yet had to become one.

_Merida._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BTW : this version of the Greek Mythology is in many many MANY ways different to my first draft from years ago. You can go back to it and read the spoilers (which i do not recommend) but you can also immediately start reading this one whereas there are many new scenes and plot developments ;)  
> Have I made you curious yet?


	3. "How did you know?!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack is willing to pray for some luck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, already 4 people reading this crap. Let me hear you, what do you think until now?

Jack skipped his weekly training to rush towards one of the libraries of Athens. The citizens were no problem as they walked right through him during his sprint. One of the perks as well as a curse of his powers. He always wondered how it had come that he wasn’t visible to others unless he used his powers to make them see him. Only one of the few benefits he got from it was that he could mess with others. Most of the times he liked to spend his days in the grand library of the city, not only for the books but randomly making books fall and pages fly scared the crap out of people.

He immediately cursed himself as he walked into the grand building. What he was searching couldn’t be found in his own stash of books, but this library had the chance to contain the information he was searching after. He rushed towards the right sections which was a few big hallways further. He usually handled books carefully but he had to know, he needed to know! As a maniac, he browsed through the books taking a few from the shelves and throwing them on a nearby table. After what seemed for him hours, he hadn’t found anything on the demigoddess he was searching for. All the big names were there : Theseus, Perseus, Orpheus.  _Gods, a lot of ‘-Euses’._  He cursed when he finished the last page of his 50th book. He let out a frustrated moan and looked around him to see if something could help him.

A scholar caught his eye near another bookshelf. Yelling wasn’t going to get his attention, not unless he would open his mind to hear Jack’s voice. He walked towards the young man and tried to catch his attention by knocking on the wood. It seemed to work when Jack saw him glancing over his shoulder to see where the sound came from. But after brief seconds he shrugged and turned back to his scrolls.

Jack grunted and pushed a book off its shelf. It hurt his heart when he heard the book fall onto the ground not wanting to damage the piece of knowledge. Only, he wanted to catch the attention of the scholar.

The young man had half long brown locks, some of them braided. But his hair was still messy showing he spend more hours behind books than on his looks. The brunette seemed to be around twenty years old. He jumped up from the thud and looked around to find the cause of it. But besides him, there was no one else around.

“What is going on here?”

“I’m trying to catch your attention because I need another Athenian than myself to help!” Jack answered obnoxiously but he didn’t seem to hear it yet. Two minds were always better than one even though one was the mind of a demigod.  _Okay, time to step it up._  

With a swing of his staff Jack blew a small mist of frost into the young man’s face frightening him. He looked up at his hair to find his brown locks frozen in all directions. Jack wasn’t finished yet and decided to throw a book at the scholar’s face almost knocking down. The frost melted and the man caught the book as soon as it had hit his face. With eyes widened he tried to find the source of the weird happenings. 

“Is there someone trying to tell me something?” he asked his voice raised.

“Finally!’ Jack cried out scaring of the scholar. He jumped and looked surprised by the sudden presence of the demigod. “Oh Zeus, you’re-“

Jack waved it away. “Yeah, yeah blabla, son of Athena. I know. Look buddy, I need your help.”

It took a few seconds for his new acquaintance to process who was standing in front of him. Of course, people recognized him when he made himself visible for them. He was well known in Athens. But people never looked after the demigod, not expecting someone like him to lay contact with him. And here he was, breaking his mother’s rules and talking to a mortal.

“You want MY help?” He asked not comprehending why Jack was standing in front of him.

“Yes.” He had no time for this blabbering. He took his arm and pulled him towards the bookshelves he had been emptying. “You’re a scholar right?”

“A-actually I’m an apprentice. I work with a smith.”

 _And there goes my help._ “Do you know anything about demigods?” He asked raising an eyebrow. He found the scholar in the book section around myths. He had to know something.

He looked abashed. Apparently Jack had judged him too quickly. “Well, I have to spend my spare time on something. What do you want to know?”

“What can you tell me of the children of Ares?” He phrased his question carefully.

He blinked twice and tried constructing answer. “Uhm besides his two sons, I don’t think he has any but if you need to know anything-.“ 

He walked into a small row of bookshelves and stopped at a blue coloured book hidden away on the lowest shelve. 

“This one has got it. I don’t know the author but whenever I have spare time, I read something of this.”

As soon as he handed Jack the book, the demigod started scanning through the pages. He stopped at the pages of Ares and took a few moments to study the drawing of the God. He couldn’t understand why the Spartans praised the god of war. He frowned and read page by page.

The scholar went to stand next to him and saw Jack stopping at the page of Deimos. Jack bit his lip and slowly turned the page to stop at a drawing which reminded him immediately of Medusa.

“This isn’t right.” He murmured.

The young man pointed at the little scribblings next to the drawing. “It says ‘Merida’. Isn’t she a daughter of Ares? I’ve heard about her somewhere. People from Mycenae and around Sparta are insanely scared of her.”

His comment only made Jack angrier. Yes, she was a pain in the ass but calling her scary was something completely else. “But this isn’t her.” He pointed at the drawing.

“Looks pretty scary to me. What are you trying to do? Eliminate his kids or something? Did he do something again?” The scholar raised his eyebrows.

 _Uhm, yes and no._ Jack didn’t know how to answer to that. _What am I trying to do?_ “But that’s not my point. She isn’t scary at all.” In fact, it was the first thing he noticed about her. She actually looked beautiful when he got to lay his eyes on her for the first time.

“So you’re not trying to kill them?”

“Not yet.” Jack mumbled between his teeth.  _Oh Hera, I’ve been hanging out way too much with my mother._ Jack wasn’t a killer although his mother gave him subtle hints he was allowed to. If it was ‘justifiable’ and able to be covered up by her, he was allowed. But Jack just couldn’t do it. Guess it was the human side of him.

“Well, have you seen any of them? Have you seen her?” He asked related to the drawing Jack was still eyeing. 

 _Seen her? Oh Gods, I fought her._ But if there was something he didn’t like, it was when authors didn’t speak the truth in their books. And this certainly wasn’t true. Everything about the image was horrific and now he was going to break another rule and take the book with him. He decided to take one more glance at the page and read her abilities.

The book stated she was a daughter of Ares and a queen from a kingdom he hadn’t heard off yet. She didn’t want the child, because it was not one born of the king and so banished it. Luckily for Merida, Ares sympathized with her situation and took her in. But the rest about her life or habits were unknown. It wasn’t even known where she lived or kept herself hidden if she needed to. Besides that, it told Jack things he already knew. She could call up fire magic at will and surprisingly had the magic to change form.  _But form into what?_  

He frowned. His guts told him she possessed far more things he had yet to discover. He noticed the scholar was eyeing him. Probably trying to figure out what the demigod was up to. Jack smiled with gratitude and patted him on the shoulder. “Thanks buddy, I’ll take it from here.”

He turned to the exit and started running again. He changed into his own magical form after he’d turned into an empty alleyway. He could just hear the scholar yelling behind him. “Uh-. You’re welcome. Aaand he’s gone.”

Jack chuckled and decided it was best not to turn back and ask the man to tell him his name. Following his mother’s rule that it was best not to make friends with mortals.

 

* * *

 

Jack had missed a meeting with his mother but did not care for a second. He strolled down to the place he’d bumped into the fire conjuring demigoddess. Of course, he knew he wasn’t going to meet her there again. The idea itself sounded stupid and yet he couldn’t help but hope for a little coincidence.

With his staff in one hand and a map of the territory in the other he tried finding his way through the large acres of woods. He was surrounded by the giants the mortals called trees. Or as the goddess liked to call them : Guardians of the Forests. He only met the goddess a few times and often not on good terms. With his mother having to apologize for her son’s behaviour. He sighed when he stopped at the end of his path, he had to choose between three directions and cursed himself. This was going to take forever. And even if he managed to find her again, what was he going to do.  _Hi, remember when we tried to kill each other?  Let’s just forget about it and be friends._  For some reason, that didn’t even sound that bad. There were worse ways to starts a conversation but it wouldn’t work with someone like her.

 _Why am I even after this girl?_ He found it strange he couldn’t answer that question but shook it out of his head. At least he could set his mind on something besides listening to the complaints of mortals and gods all day. He only had a say in one thing and that was laying down tactics to attack Spartan borders with other generals. The idea now troubled him and he tried to stall those responsibilities as long as possible.

He folded the map and shuffled it in his sleeve. He bit his lip and decided to do something he’d never thought he would. Pray to a god.

He hesitated on his first words. “H-hey, Artemis. I know we’ve never really got along. I know I often froze your rivers or maybe putt some animals in cold circumstances but-.“ 

He could already imagine the goddess rolling her eyes and turning her back on him. He could feel her attention on him slipping away. “But hear me out. I will never do anything that makes you want to throw me into a dark pit filled with snakes but please I beg you. Help me out on this. I need to find this girl.” 

He sighed and hoped the goddess had listened long enough to hear and understand his struggle. 

“I’ve never asked for anything from any god but I can’t do this on my own.” He continued. “You’re the only one I know who can help me.”

She was in fact one of the few goddesses with no craving for revenge. She also was the goddess of the hunt and the protector of those living in the forest.

For several seconds he waited for an answer but all he got was silence and the peaceful sounds of birds and other animals he knew were all around him. He made a mental note to himself.  _Maybe next time, don’t try to anger a goddess you need help from._  

His ears picked up small whispers of what he thought to be of children. They were soft and seemed to be calling him. He glanced towards where he thought the sound came from. He found a soft blue coloured glowing spirit dimly floating a few inches above the earth. They gestured him to come closer. He carefully walked closer and tried to touch it but disappeared. However, Jack found a second one a small distance away from him. 

“These are wisps?” he had heard about them from his mother but never really thought to see one. Artemis only used them to guide lost travellers out of the woods back to civilization. Or to lead some people to their destiny, with of course some help from her brother. 

“You’re actually helping me?!” He shut his mouth to prevent himself from saying anything more stupid that would cause the goddess to change her mind.

“Thank you.” He whispered out. “You won’t regret it.”

 

* * *

 

Jack couldn’t remember the last time he ran as fast as he did now. His breathing became heavier and with every step and jump he took the rhythm of his heart exhilarated. Of course, Jack had his weekly training and work out, so he still managed to keep up his shape. However his muscles grew tired after an hour.

The answer to why he was so eager to find Merida again was still unknown. He knew deep down that having a demigod as a friend wasn’t the only reason but it was one of the things that kept him driven.  

The wisps led him to an open place in the woods. Large stones similar to the pillars in his mother’s temple were placed in a circle. The ruin was an old sacred place where prayers of Artemis came for help. It seemed abandoned. Jack tried not to cross any sacred boundaries still having respect for the goddess of the old ruin.  _So why did you bring me here?_

He heard a branch break and turned around with his staff in a defensive position. Whoever was trying to sneak up behind him was going to regret it. Certainly because this was a sacred place of one of the gods. Even Jack took it as his responsibility as a demigod to protect it. It wasn’t until he saw the animal coming from behind one of the stones, he lowered his staff. Of course, he wasn’t going to attack a small wolf and certainly not at a worshipping place of Artemis.

The wolf tried walking towards the middle of the circle and timidly kept its eyes on Jack as to see if he posed a threat or not.

Jack tried his best not to scare it away. It had beautiful grey and white fur which gave Jack the immediate urge to pet it. For whatever reason Artemis had brought him here, this wolf perhaps had something to do with it.  _Or maybe Artemis is just messing with you for that time you changed one of her forests in a complete winter wonderland._

He took a few steps closer and saw the wolf backing away from him once he reached his hand out to it. Jack froze and waited several seconds until he returned to motion. He laid his staff on the ground and bit his lip as he let the staff rest behind him to approach the animal.

It seemed to work. The wolf looked puzzled by his action and doubtfully tiptoed to Jack's hand stretched out to it. “Yeah, you’re not so scary, are you?” Jack tried talking to it.

The animal crooked its head in a peculiar adorable way causing Jack to chuckle. “You don’t understand me, do you?”

He tried carefully touching its nose resulting in the wolf sneezing. Jack pressed his lips together to keep himself from giggling. For a dangerous predator, this ‘beast’ was incredibly adorable. “Oh holy Artemis, you’re cute.”

His comment made the creature look up at him. He finally had gained its trust and Jack leaned in to gently pet it when he noticed its eyes. Those weren’t ordinary. Those were the same aquamarine eyes he’d seen before.

The wolf noticed his recognition. Before Jack could open his mouth the wolf jumped on him growling vigorously. It actually scared the demigod because his staff was just out of his reach. He was defenceless. Jack didn’t want to hurt the creature and instead closed his eyes ready for death to come and grab him. He suddenly felt the weight and form atop of his body change. A blue light made him open his eyes again only to find the familiar redhead holding up a fist ready to punch him. What was even worse was she was still sitting on top of him which made him feel uncomfortable.

“First of, you weren’t supposed to know!” she yelled at him

Jack stared up at her wild red curls and blue eyes for several seconds. He was completely perplexed and befuddled having the Spartan in front of him again. Well, not in front of him but above him. Which was not how he imagined their reencounter would be. He hadn't even prepared himself for how he would talk to her once he'd found her again. He was speechless and failed trying to find the correct words to get out of this awkward situation.

“Second,-“ She breathed out and lowered her clenched fist. Her anger immediately took place for disbelieve and confusion. The soft light her eyes shown out was almost saddening to Jack.

“How did you know?” she finished finding his eyes as she looked down on him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I'm not actually sorry. You wil have more ending like these


	4. Loathing. Unadulterated loathing.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which making friends with a Spartan was harder than it looked.

 “I…uh…I-.”  _Oh gods Jack, get a grip on yourself. Say something!_  

Merida raised an eyebrow waiting for an answer, but Jack was unable to find any words to construct a logical sentence that would get him out of this situation. No logical answer came out. Just blabbering and some mumbled words. Why was he so tongue-tied all the sudden?

“You did know it was me, don’t you?” she asked suspiciously, realizing her reaction could have been exaggerated. She could have stayed in her form not revealing herself to him. But a voice in her mind had yelled to attack him as soon as he would realize what hid behind her disguise. Maybe she had been too quick.

‘Y-yes, of course, I knew it was you.” He suddenly stuttered out.

Merida couldn’t comprehend why the demigod was troubled to find his words. Had she frightened him that bad? “Are you alright, Snowflake?”

His eyes widened and his skin suddenly got a colour. That was the first time she’d seen that.

“I’m fine.” He quickly spit out.

“Then how did you know?” she resumed to her question.

“I-I don’t know.” He actually didn’t know. It just jumped in his mind that the eyes of the wolf reminded him of hers. By the time he’d made the link between the two, his head had already hit the ground.

His answer wasn’t the one she expected nor the one she wanted. Her eyes suddenly darted up to where his staff was laying a few feet away from them.

Having no idea what she was planning, Jack tried to shift her attention back to him. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Her gaze was locked on him again. “An Athenian like you? Next thing I know this is going to be written down in your stupid books!” 

“First, don’t flatter yourself with that thought.” He leaned on his elbows so he could get a better look of her face. His comment didn’t seem to satisfy her. “Second, it won’t.” He assured her.

He noticed her eyes darting back and forth between his searching for a hint if he was lying. If he had to admit he liked the attention and it gave him an excuse to study her eyes as well. They had a lighter tint of a blue. Much brighter than his own. It was somehow pleasing.

Once he saw her expression growing unsure he stepped in. “I promise.”

“Why?”

He frowned. “Why what?”

“Why should I trust you?”

“Because I didn’t kill you the moment I had the chance.” He answered.

“You mean when I got the chance to fire up your stick?” She closed her eyes and sighed because of how wrong that sentence sounded.

“Staff.” Jack corrected sighing, almost used to everybody calling it a stick or a branch.

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. 

The realization suddenly dawned on him, he frowned and looked back at his staff over his shoulder. Which he couldn’t do before having Merida giving him little space to move. “Oh no, where’s my staff?!” He raised his voice.

She looked up and pressed her lips together. “Woops. I swear, it was there a second ago.”

 _Woops? My staff is gone and you say WHOOPS?!_ Jack let himself fall back on the ground and grabbed his head. “No, no, no, no,-“ He repeated ending in an agonizing moan.  “This is not good. You know I needed that thing!” He yelled.

“Well, why did you lay it on the ground?”

“Because you wouldn’t’ trust me if I didn’t.” He looked her directly in the eye. “And you know that is true. Now help me get it back.” He demanded.

“Why do I have to?”

“Because it’s your fault in the first place.”

“No, it’s-“

“Merida, that thing is my attribute. I need it!”

Every god had an attribute. It was a symbol for what they stood for and fought to protect but also their magic. When Athena revealed herself to be his mother when he was twelve, she immediately proposed to be his mentor in magic as well. His magic, especially the part that could control natural elements and manipulate weather, was very unstable. The staff helped controlling it. Keeping it to a certain degree so it wouldn’t get out of control. If he used his magic without his attribute, his mind would lose its grip on his magic and loose stability. Jack was actually dangerous to be around without his staff.

Even though it was his own stupid mistake, Merida still felt guilty. “It’s really important, isn’t it?”

“Do you know why I gave you your bow back?”

“Excuse me? You took my munition and threw my bow on the ground?!” She objected loudly.

Jack seemed to have touched a nerve and he intended to. He knew that bow had to be important to her. “I only took what belonged to be, that was fair. But I gave you back your bow because I thought it was important to you.”

“How did you figure that out?” He was an Athenian so he was quite a fast learner. She shouldn’t be surprised. She was talking to the son of Athena.

“The little cute carvings on the wood told me it belonged to you and that it was probably precious to you.”  He never stole something from someone else, only if that property rightfully belonged to him or another.

Merida’s expression suddenly changed as if she recalled something bad. “Oh no.”

“Oh no, what?”

“There lives a witch in these woods.”

“Excuse me?!” Jack’s voice shrieked.

Merida had to bite her lip when she heard his voice suddenly having such a high pitch. Charming for a demigod, she thought.

“And we’re not exactly friends.” She added.

“And of course, you think she stole it.” Jack groaned. “AH fine, tell me where she lives. I’ll see if I can persuade her to give it back.”

She snorted.

He lifted his hand from his eyes. ”What?”

“You really think you can try and convince her to give it back?” She laughed.

He raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a better idea?”

She lifted up a clenched fists which caught fire in a second. She raised her eyebrows implying her message.

“Oh yeah because threatening her is such a better idea.”

“Better than asking her friendly. You really think that will work?”

It stayed silent and Jack actually had to think about it. Both solutions being the worst he could think off.  “Guess we’ll see about that when we get there, won’t we?”

“You still want me to go with you?”

“Well, you know where she lives”

“Yes, but she does not at all like me!” Merida objected.

“Whose fault is that?!”

“Gah, you’re unbelievable!” She groaned irritated.

He couldn’t help but take the opportunity. “Unbelievably handsome?”

“Cocky.” She corrected.

He shrugged. “Meh, close enough. Can we go now?” Every second he wasted here, was another without his staff.

“Then get up.”

“You’re still on top of me!” Never in his life had he had a girl take a far distance away from him that fast. Well, never in his life had he communicated to a normal girl. It felt uncomfortable at first, now it just felt weird without the warmth. Was he missing it? He shook his head and pushed himself up.

“Where to?”

Merida sighed and pulled the cap of her cloak over her hair. “Follow me.”

 

* * *

 

This wasn’t at all what he expected when Merida said there lived a witch in the woods. “She left you a message?” He commented as he watched the voicemail the witch left for them lift up from the cauldron before them in a green light. He could feel his eye twitch when the voice of the old woman suddenly mentioned Merida as the red-haired lass that came by two months ago.

Merida avoided every eye contact he was trying to make with her. Apparently, she hadn’t expected this either.

“I-I had no idea that-.” She stopped when the message switched to address her.

“Since you’ve managed to ruin my carving business. I had to take my sales on a different district. If you are indeed listening to this message. Your boyfriend’s staff is already heading its way to the black market.”

The two choked on their breaths simultaneously.

“Boyfriend?!

“The BLACK MARKET?!”

His head quickly turned to her. “I need it back, Merida!”

“What do I have to do about it?”

“It is your fault!”

“No, it’s not!”

“Oh, you mean putting her out of business or letting someone steal my attribute? Which one, Merida? Take a pick!” Why did he think it was such a good idea to get to know her? Spend time with her. When did it ever sound like a good idea to him?!

She was making his blood boil, heart race. He raised his voice, he was clenching his fists and right now all he wanted to do was force her to take him to that market and get it all over with. This day was going horrible.

“What in the world did you do to get her out of business?” With a low and threatening voice that indeed seemed to scare her a bit. _Good, be scared. I’m not nice without my attribute._

“She owned a carving shop. She carved wood. She would’ve gone out of business without me.”

“Merida, what did you do?”

It sounded really weird hearing his voice calling her by her actual name. He addressed her as Merida instead of a nickname as soon as he knew her identity. It felt strange. Unexpected from the son of the goddess Athena. She expected a sarcastic cold-hearted demigod. This was not what she signed up for.  

 “I stole one of the wooden products from her shop.”

He sighed already knowing where this was going. “It’s the bow, isn’t it?”

Without even blinking an eye and looking at him she nodded. Not even surprised he figured that part out.

“But the little carvings on the wood are yours, right?” He asked not being able to imagine the old woman carving such cute and pretty symbols on wood.

“Yes.” She answered blankly. Why did he care anyway that the little symbols were carved in by her?

“Can you get me to that market?”

“Yes.”

 

* * *

 

“For the last time, where is it?!” Merida yelled furiously at one of the traders of which Jack had found out he bought his staff from an old lady.

The man cringed in fear once her hand lit up with her magic. But Jack saw it scared him too much, he was too afraid to answer.

“Merida, calm down. He’s going to make his tunic dirty if you know what I mean.”

“Well, your friendly talk didn’t help.”

“At least, I got some words out of him.”

“He called you an Athenian son of bitch.”

A friend of her captive snorted. “He’s right about that one though.”

Merida shot lightning bolts at him with her gaze which immediately shut him up.

Jack folded his arms and sighed. He hated to admit it but the Spartan was right.

“Give him back his staff!” The flames on her hand shot up and grew bigger.

“Fine, it’s in one of the boxes.”

Merida glanced over to Jack. He nodded and waited for Merida to release one of the traders. She putt out her magic and wanted to walk over to their stock when a block of ice was suddenly constructed in front of her in a matter of seconds. It took moments before she realized Jack’s magic had stopped an arrow from hitting her head. She remained still as she saw one of the men holding a bow aimed at her head.

Before her eyes could even dart to Jack their feet were caught in ice. Half the body of the shooter was frozen and his hands were paralyzed so he would be unable to hold the bow any longer. 

Merida snorted. “I hear that feels cold.” She commented immediately getting a grin from Jack as she took his staff without interruption.

“It burns!” One of the men shouted.

“Yeah, you should’ve thought about that before your shot an arrow towards my friend’s head!” Jack commented.

He found Merida’s confused look and froze.  _Too soon?_  

“I-I can call you that, right?”

She didn’t answer and that concerned him. She didn’t even glance one moment at the few traders and gestured Jack to walk out of the harbour. “We should be out of sight”

Once back in the woods, Merida reached out her hand to him to shake his. “Thanks for catching that arrow.”

Jack frowned at her hand and reached his hand out for his staff instead of her hand. “Don’t worry about it. But I need this right now.” He took it out of her hands.

“I thought you said you needed that thing to use your magic?” She asked once it was back to its rightful owner.

“No, it helps me control it. It would be very dangerous if I didn’t have it. And I don’t want to hurt you.” His eyes suddenly found hers. His heart skipped a beat. “-Or anyone else.” He added.

“And yet you used it to save my ass?” She often used such hard language and yet Jack heard it in a soft tone. He couldn’t help but feel proud for saving her.

It would have been very unfortunate if that arrow had hit her. But the instant he saw one of them aiming the weapon at her, his first instinct was to avoid that arrow from ever reaching its target. He acted without thinking and that was the first time ever.

 “Thank you.”

He chuckled.  _Gratitude from a Spartan, that’s new._

“What?” she raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing.” He shook his head. A long silence fell. He decided to break it after a few long seconds. “You know, this wasn’t all that bad.”

“What do you mean?” She leaned against a nearby tree.

He wanted to explain when the exact same sound from yesterday echoed through the woods. Merida’s expression turned sour. This wasn’t good. That sound had something to do with her disappearing and it seemed she was going to do it again.

He spurted to her before she could run and took her arm. “Oh no, you don’t.”

She looked shocked at him. “What in the Olympus are you doing?”

“You are not leaving before I get a sufficient answer from you. What is that sound?!” He demanded.

“I am not going to-.”

“Fine, but it’s the reason why you have to leave all of the sudden.”

“So what’s your point?” she tried jerking away her arm but Jack tightened his grip. He tried not to hurt her, but it remained difficult to keep her where she was standing.

“One more day.”

“What?”

“Spend one more day with me.”

“Excuse me?!”

“You were right when you said I barely had friends.” He admitted.

“Really?” Merida snorted.

Jack felt the urge to just leave.  _Well, if you’re going to be like that_. “Please, I just want to get to know someone like you. Just as two demigods.”

Her eyes were filled with a chaos of doubts. Shooting up and down from his eyes to her possible escaping route.

“You won’t regret it.” He tried convincing her.

“Fine, but let me go.”

He let go of her arm but couldn’t help but feel victorious.

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?” He asked grinning.

She shook her head at his cocky grin. “You’re an idiot.”

“You’re an idiot.” He shot back in a funny voice. _You’re an idiot for saying yes but I’m still happy._

Merida furrowed her brow at him but couldn’t fight back her smile.

Jack looked behind him from where the noise had enacted. “Can you at least tell me what that sound-“ He heard a whoosh. He sighed knowing she was long gone.  _And there she goes._  

Maybe today, hadn't been so bad after all. This was the most fun he'd had in weeks. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it took quite a while now for a new chapter but here it is ;)
> 
> EDIT: this chapter has been edited


	5. I'll crush your heart like an olive...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Eros wants revenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait, but here is the next chapter ;)

Jack sat on the edge of the temple of the Acropolis enjoying the view of Athens, his home. As always the heat was too much to handle but his powers aided him staying cool under the burning sun of old Greece. The only thing he often loved about the warm weather were the days where he could stand in the sunlight not wanting to leave it. It gave him the sensation of melting into a pleasant embrace of the sunlight's warmth. Giving him a lazy feeling as he stood still. Enjoying the light and taking everything in what was around him. He wished he could enjoy that sensation more.

The Acropolis was never his home. No, no. His mother made sure he had the finest and biggest villa on the boarder of Athens out of sight for its habitants. But the house just felt empty. He often felt lonely, that’s why he enjoyed the view from the Acropolis more. He could observe people going on with their usual lives without having to interfere. Although he badly wanted to. Not because he wanted to pester them or because he had to have permission of his mother. No, because he wanted the contact with mortals badly.

The sundown he was watching reminded him of the flaming red hair of the Spartan which caused him to chuckle. She was an interesting character. A little rude, feisty, maybe a few anger issues but oh Demeter she was determined to get what she wanted. It was out of the ordinary. Only, the Spartan part still pushed him back. It was a well-known opinion. Not a fact, but an opinion around Athenians that Spartans were dumb, brutal, dimwits just as their God. But Merida didn’t seem like that. What was even more worse is that she shared the same DNA as the god of war. However, now he was thinking of it, he’d never met the god. So why was he jumping to conclusions about the demigoddess?

“You know, you have a large villa with a pool and a wide build garden.”

“I like the view here.” Jack answered his mother without looking over his shoulder.

“There’s been calls for me near Ithica, I’m sorry I’m late.” His mother came to lean on the marble railing he was sitting on.

“Wasn’t I there in your name last month?”

“Yes, but apparently my owl of wisdom isn’t enough for them. They needed me.” She chuckled when he groaned in response. Mostly when mortals begged for help from the goddess, Jack would jump in and respond in her name. But both of them knew they wanted the goddess herself. He didn’t blame them though. Everyone liked to meet a god of Olympus, only a few were lucky or if you were too vain, unlucky if you met one of them.  

Most mortals saw the good itself in Athena. She stood for justice, rightfulness, honesty, trust and so much more. Sadly, Jack hadn’t seen much of it and he was afraid to be soon disappointed that she wasn’t all that. But he enjoyed the few time he could spend with her. Until the topic she was about to bring up.

“I’ve talked with a queen up North again.”

“Ugh!” he groaned loudly so his mother would understand he didn’t want to talk about.  _Please, not again. PLEASE, NOT AGAIN. I’m not ready for this!_   _Damn it, HERA!_

“Don’t be like that, Jack. You’re almost nineteen, you’re already late.”

“I’ve been ‘almost nineteen’ forever! I do not want to marry, mother.” He made it clear. They had been repeating this conversation for centuries.

“You’ll have to if we want to contain our allies.”

“Then let war spread upon us!” He screamed but he couldn’t hold his laughter in. In seconds he stopped himself when he noticed the glare his mother was giving him.  _Not funny?_  

“You’re starting to sound like my brother.”

He lowered his arms he had raised during his joke. And nodded with a blank expression. “I’m sorry, mother.”

She laid her hand on his and caressed his cold skin. “I want you to think about it. Do it for what we stand for, Jack. Justice, -.”

“Power and wit.” He finished with a nagging tone. “Yes, I know.” He rather stood for fun and games but if you wanted that you’d have to be with Dionysus. Now he was thinking of it, he should pay the god a visit.

He ignored the so called motherly gaze she was trying to give him. The so called: ‘I’m sincere and caring at the same time. I trust you to not disappoint me so just do what I wish or you’ll break my heart.’

He felt her warmth leaving his hand and stopped her grabbing her arm. He immediately let go when he found her shocked face. He’d never been that direct with her. What was up with him?

“You didn’t tell me.” He finally spoke when he found the strength to look in her cold blue eyes staring down at him.

“'Didn’t tell you what, dear?”

_Hah, ‘dear’._   She said it often but he knew it meant nothing. “You didn’t tell me Ares had a daughter.”

“He has?” She asked. Jack could hear the sarcasm in her voice. “I thought he only had a few sons.”

“Well, he has a daughter.” He said in response crossing his arms. He raised an eyebrow waiting for what lie she would probably throw at him.

“You’ve met her?!” He could hear the hate in her tone but also the surprise and mixed disgust she felt when he brought up the name of the young Spartan.

_Oh no, quick lie._ “No.”  _Too fast, bro. She’s going to know you’re lying._ “I’ve read about it.”

“Those topics aren’t in your books, have you been around the libraries again?”

“Mother, please I want to read other things besides how to lead an army and how to fight.”

She raised an eyebrow and let out a small huff. “Besides your powers and the twelve gods, there’s nothing else for you to read.” Athena rolled her eyes. It irritated her how much her son was interested in other nations and cities. “So because she has the same age as you, you thought you could hang out with her, didn’t you?” She returned back to the topic. Her expression was sour already knowing how her son thought things through. But what did she expect? That he would calmly stay in his villa for years eventually to walk out to listen to every command?

Jack ignored her gaze. He never said anything about her age. His mother was trying to hide things from him. He didn’t like it when people hid the truth. He wanted some answers and fast. Luckily, his mother already had eyes on someone else for him to marry or she would ask if he met others of his age besides Merida. Unfortunately, besides a few nymphs, not many women had approached him. He frowned. So how was he supposed to know who to marry? He’d never even fallen in love with someone, let alone a crush.

“Of course not! She’s a Spartan!” He returned to her question. “We all know Athens is the greatest city of Greece and Sparta should realize that!” Without a glance he left to his villa but he could feel the proud look of his mother on his back. Most of what he had said, was lied. It was only so his mother wouldn’t have any suspense. He started running. It was time to break some rules.

Again.

* * *

 

 

 The city was as often casted in shadows. Even in bright daylight the city was dark and bleak. Merida often missed the variety of colours she often found in other cities. However, her mind was often a chaos of various thoughts. The walk through the empty streets leading up to her own house helped her straighten them. She missed her horse. Although she was faster in her magical form, she enjoyed riding on horseback. Then again civilians might recognize her since she didn’t possess the ability to cloak herself from mortal sight. Her transformations sort of did that for her.

A cold wind reached her skin sending chills down her spine.  _I’ve had enough of the cold today._ She took her cloak and wrapped herself in it before walking up to her father’s small temple. No one really visited the area, since Ares only appeared in front of his armies. Only, everyone knew how easily they could anger the God of War. No one wanted to be on his bad side, especially when one messed with his only daughter. He perfectly knew she could take care of herself, she was a true Spartan. But no man dared to come even close scared to anger the god. 

The few people she encountered ignored her gaze as she was the only woman that had permission to enter the temple. If one person looked at her filthy, they would be killed by her father for sure. She knew it were cruel times but being alone like this wasn’t always fun. Besides her horse and few connections at the Olympus, she actually didn’t have many friends. She wondered if there were other reasons for that besides her famous father.

Her bronze belt for once felt unpleasant. Her brothers had made it, in honouring for Aphrodite, since their father had an affair with her, and because Merida was the only daughter of Ares, they thought it fit her. It was a fake belt, no real powers whereas Aphrodite’s original belt did contain them. But it represented she was one of the most beautiful Spartans and that no one could touch her. She didn’t feel that way. She didn’t even think she was beautiful because of her unique looks. She hated it. She stood out.

The fires lit up her skin and hair as she passed them in the small hall. Her father sensed her presence and walked out of the shadows. “Ah Merida, you heard the horn?

She didn’t answer his question. Of course, she heard it. Every time she would go on a hunt, at the end of the day that horrible thing would make that annoying sound telling her to come back to the city. Obviously, he wanted to keep her safe but it annoyed her because he started to use it earlier throughout the day. It made it almost impossible for her to enjoy her free time.

“Did you find something during your hunt?” he asked. No one probably knew but her father was actually kind towards his children and to some other gods. He would always ask if someone had caused her trouble or if she was alright in general. She felt blessed that the God of War was worried about a seventeen-year-old, but it became irritating after a while. She appreciated the attention though, since he helped her with her powers.

“Nah, just bumped into someone.”

The god of war wrapped his arm around her shoulder and walked further next to his daughter. “And did you kill him?” he immediately asked, knowing his daughter would win any fight even if it was a man.

“Dad, no!” she quickly said back. She didn’t call him dad very often but it was one of those moments where she had a connection with him. She grinned. “I scared him away.”

“That’s my girl,” he smiled with pride. “A true Spartan.” As a vicious god, he was quite a charismatic man.  _Maybe that’s why Aphrodite fell for him._

She chuckled. “So how did it go with Athena?” She asked.

He shrugged. “Like the usual.”

“Dad, please don’t attack Athenian borders again.” She pleaded. Deep down she actually cared about her new friend. And she just didn’t want another war started, it took a lot from her free time. And now there was her new friend to think about.  _Should I even call him a friend?_  

“Nah, my little princess.” He gestured towards the old training field she could see just outside the temple. “Why don’t you go blow off some steam?”

Merida showed a small pile of books she’d bought at black market. She tried her best to hide it from the Athenian. He didn’t need to know she like the occasional read. “Nah, I picked up some books from an old market. If I don’t start reading now, I will never finish them.” And then she would at least feel some accomplishment in her life for doing something useful.

Merida smiled. She loved to show off her fighting skills but not today. She gave him a hug, threw him a warm smile and eventually decided to skip training and head home. A rather small house but with her horse and the rest of her weapons stored up in it, she called it home.

“If you keep reading like this, I’ll start thinking you’re an Athenian.” He laughed.

Merida chuckled in response. “Never, I would rather die.” She yelled exaggerated as she left the temple.

Ares again grinned with pride. “That’s my girl.”

* * *

 

 

For once, Merida decided to go by horse. She pulled the fabric of her cloak over her wild curly red hair and checked if her parts of her leather armour were in place. It didn’t hurt to be a little careful. Angus was anxious to run again. As soon as she snapped the reins, the black stallion neighed joyfully.

She always admired Artemis as the goddess of the hunt. She loved to hunt herself but she rather aimed at her self-made targets than the animals that lived in the endless forest she walked through.

The peaceful sound of the wind going through the trees was suddenly interrupted by running footsteps. Merida quickly turned around and wanted to grab her bow to aim an arrow at the creature or human that was closing in, when the other demigod stumbled upon her and pushed her down onto the ground.

“Jack, what the-?!”

Well, he didn’t push her but fell. He looked surprised to find her here in the woods again and in a split of a moment he grinned. “Merida, are you wearing Armour?” He cocked his head looking at the bands around her arms and shoulders. “You don’t trust me at all, do you?”

“Can you blame me?” She couldn’t help but suppress a smile. Not because of his comment. Because of the awkward situation she found herself in.

His smile was immediately interrupted by a sudden realization. “Oh shit, run!” He stood up as fast as he could and dragged Merida along with him.

The redhead couldn’t quite follow and stopped him by taking his wrist. “What’s the matter with you?”

“He’s after me-“

“Who-?” A high pitched shriek interrupted her question as a winged creature flew next to her towards Jack, aiming its arrow at him.

“I told you not to mess with me, Athenian.”

Jack pushed himself against a tree and let out a trembling breath. “I was only joking.”

“Joking my ass!” He tightened the string of his bow.

“Eros?”

The small demigod looked over his shoulder and quickly dropped his bow. “Meri?”

Jack choked on his breath. “Meri?!”

Merida rushed to stand between the two to be sure there wouldn’t end up any victims. “What in the name of Aphrodite, are you doing here?” She asked. She glanced back at Jack and then at the other demigod. “And why are you after his butt?!” She asked angrily. Only she was allowed to.

“He called me a fake.”

Jack held his finger up. “Correction, I called your magic-” Before he could finish the third demigod wanted to aim his arrow to him again.

“You little-!”

“Wait, I’m little?!” Jack responded angrily.

“Eros, stop it.” Merida held her hand up at the smaller flying demigod who slowly lowered his attribute again at her request.

“He insulted me.”

Merida frowned and looked back at the Athenian. “What did you say?”

“I just stated the fact that- “

“My powers aren’t useless.” Eros defended himself.

“You’re not exactly making them fall in love.” Jack objected.

Before Eros could explode, Merida grabbed Jack by his tunic. “Eros, is like a brother to me. Apologize.”

“Merida, he only increases certain feelings of persons. If anything, I call that misleading people.”

She crossed her arms. “If I can help clear it up. He searches peoples who already have feelings for each other. They’re minor but he doesn’t only increase them. So to push it in your arrogant brain, he makes them realize they’ve fallen for each other. He only works out his mother’s tasks.” Which was Aphrodite herself. “He does exactly the same thing as you do. Understand? Now apologize.”

Jack frowned and looked over at the winged demigod. “No. I only told him my opinion after he pestered me for over an hour. I’m not apologizing to that bully.”

“You’re the son of Athena. You’re asking for it.”

Now that she heard the other side of the story, she shot a questioning look to her cousin. “Eros, I know you like to tease mortals but- “

“He’s an Athenian, Meri. You hate them too, don’t you?!”

“Well, yes. But he’s different.”

_She’s actually defending me?_  He let out a laugh receiving an angry look from the demigod of love.

“Watch your mouth, Athenian!” Eros didn’t have sympathy for Athenians. They were arrogant and idle assholes. He rather met Spartans, they were more impulsive and passionate.

“What are you going to do?” Jack cocked his head and grinned playfully. “Make me fall in love?”

“Oh, I can make you fall in love alright. Next thing you’ll know; you’ll be crushing on a bear. And trust me if I say this.” He flew threatening towards the son of Athena.

Jack instantly regretted his comment and felt himself taking a step back.

“I will find the smallest feeling of a crush you’ll have inside and turn it into the heaviest, severe love you will ever feel that will cause you nothing else but pain and regret. I’ll crush your heart like an olive.” His face was only a few inches away, his golden coloured eyes piercing through Jack’s.

Jack tried to regain his confidence. He wasn’t going to let a twelve-year old immortal demigod belittle him. “You should watch your mouth.” He lowered his voice.

“I’m almost two hundred years old.” Eros spoke.

Jack held his breath. He didn’t want to answer to that. “I said: ‘Watch it’.” He tried threatening again.

“Make me. Believe me, I’m capable of making you suffer.”

Jack had trouble swallowing. Eros continued. “You’re used to that, aren’t you? Unanswered love?”

“Eros, that’s enough.” Merida laid her hand on his shoulder. “I think you scared him enough.”

Eros didn’t move his eyes away from the Athenian. “Good.” He slowly backed away and took Merida’s hand. “Come on, Meri.”

Merida stayed put and pressed her lips together. “I’m going to stay for little while.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I kind of promised him.” She answered honestly.

Eros eyes widened. “I guess. Just promise me you’ll beat him up at least once.”

“Will do.” She smiled.

“Merida!” Jack yelled.

The winged demigod shook his head and flew off. A short silence fell before Jack found the strength to stand next to Merida. “So you two know each other?”

“I only see him on gatherings on Olympus.”

“So… you do have friends.”

She chuckled and finally looked at him, sky blue ice finding sapphire blue. “He’s more like a brother to me. He understands me.”

He frowned. “How come I never saw you on those gatherings?”

“Because our parents avoid each other.” She laughed.

He couldn’t help but see the humour in it as well and laughed nervously.

“Do one thing, don’t anger Eros. He’s really sensitive when it comes to his powers. He’s stronger than you think.”

Eros could try all he wanted. Jack had never felt real love and would never feel it. Sure, he admired his mother. But at the end of the day, it was nothing more than a bond between master and assistant-like relation. “He started it.” He sounded really childish but he was being honest.

She laughed and shook her head and walked back behind a few trees to get her horse.

Jack showed his admiration for the beautiful black stallion and gestured if he could caress it.

Merida gave him permission and he softly laid his hand on the horse nose. The horse sneezed causing a few drops of saliva ending up on his face. Merida handed him a small piece fabric and raised herself on the horse. “His name’s Angus.”

Jack whipped away the saliva and suddenly noticed Merida’s hand reached out to him.

“So where are we heading?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't worry people, Eros WILL return


	6. W-water?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which these two finally get to know each other, eeh but not as they had hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, but here is the next chapter :D

“You know the one thing that has been bothering me?” Jack brought up when Merida stopped at the familiar ruins of the Artemis’ temple.

She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Your ignorance? Your own voice? Your comments?”  _Your mother._ She added her in her mind.

“Your comments?” Jack imitated her in a highly pitched and nagging tone. “No! The fact you got passed twenty guards, into one of our battleship and stole a whole ransom of weapons.”

“Why are you surprised? Your guards are half the time playing with their fingers, your locks are WEAK, -“

“Excuse me?”

“And your ships are awfully easy to break into.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Anything else?”  _Come on. Rub it in!_

“And I maybe know a guy or two whom I persuaded to help me.”

“What do you mean by persuaded?” Which idiot in Athens could be convinced to help a Spartan? How much money would she use to bribe them? She used money, didn’t she?

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m not telling you, he’s still my source at the harbour.” She landed on the ground with a thud and reached out her hand to him to help him of the horse.

He refused it. “I can fly, I don’t need help.” He wanted to carefully get off, only his bare foot got stuck between the reigns of the saddle and got him to fall off the horse hitting the ground with his back.

Merida leaned over him with arms crossed. “Such grace, just as his mother.” She laughed.

He groaned irritated. “Just help me already.”

She didn’t move. “I don’t take orders from an Athenian. Ask me nicely.” She insisted.

“Merida.”

“Beg.” She ordered calmly.

He rubbed his eyes and sighed.  _This goes against everything I stand for._  “Will you please help me?”

She let out another little laugh and eventually loosened whatever was tied around his foot. “So you can fly? I didn’t know that.”

“We barely knew of each other’s existence a few days ago.” He pushed himself up an decided to sit on one of the rocks near the sacrificing stone. He always wondered if it was still used. The thought nearly sent shivers down his spine.

“Oh I knew your name alright. In Sparta you’re known as the know-it-all bird of my father’s sister.”

His eyes widened. “I can transform into an OWL!”

“You’re still a bird though. Compared to my transformations, yours is weak.”

“You have multiple?” That wasn’t mentioned in the books.

She quirked an eyebrow and showed a smirk. “It’s one of my many powers.”

 _You are not more powerful than me!_ “I can use ice as a weapon.”

“I can set anything on fire with one touch.” She walked closer.

“I can fly.”

“Supernatural strength.” She added.

 _Oh, were competing, aren’t we?_ “I can manipulate the weather.” In a way, this was a great tactic to get intel on her powers and weaknesses but right now all he felt was jealously.  _Why can’t I turn into another animal?_

That one actually seemed to impress her. “You can? Show me.”

He felt a sting in his back. “What? Like right now?”

She shrugged. “You wanted some time together. Why not show off your powers?”

Jack found himself irritated by her big fake smile and wanted to tear it right off. “Artemis, doesn’t like it when I fool around with my powers here.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Guess you’re not as powerful as it thought, Snowflake.”

“Whoa whoa, oh no!” he stood up. “You are not more powerful.”

She sputtered out a laugh. “Alright, show me little Athenian.”

He felt his eye twitch. “Stand still!” he rushed up and took her hands immediately getting her to pull them back.

“What in HADES are you doing?”

“Just trust me. Hold still.” He wanted to reach out to her hands again but she took a small step back.

“I don’t trust someone like you.”

 _Okay, fair point._ “Please, just close your eyes.” He asked.

“Yeah, because when a guy asks me to close my eyes, I’m supposed to trust him. My father would set you on fire if he knew.”

“Merida, I’m not trying anything funny. Please, just trust me for once.”

She still hesitated and narrowed down her eyes. “I don’t-.”

“Just set aside the fact I’m Athenian. Right now, I’m just Jack.”

She sighed and eventually closed her eyes. “Fine. But I’m burning your ass if you try anything stupid.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

 

* * *

 

Merida began to feel anxious after a few seconds of silence and wanted to peek when she suddenly felt something soft and cold land on the tip of her nose. She jumped and opened her eyes as fast as she could to discover snow falling around her.

“Snow?” she held out her hand to let a few snowflakes melt on her hand. A giggle escaped her mouth and she quickly covered her mouth glancing over at the other demi-god.

He held up a cocky smirk quirking his eyebrows. Above them was a small grey cloud covering both young adults with snow. He let out a chuckle seeing the little snowflakes get stuck in her frizzy red hair.

He tried to walk closer again while she still awed the little cloud of winter in the middle of the summer. “I can create far larger clouds like this.”

The realization suddenly struck her. “You caused that snowstorm a year ago, didn’t you?”

He nodded and threw his hands up. “Guilty. I like snow far more than this Tartarus on earth.”

“You’re walking barefoot, doesn’t the cold bother you?”

He shook his head and eventually let the little cloud disappear. It caused a squall resulting in both to cover their faces and Merida’s hair to block her vision. Jack pressed his lips together to hold back his laugh and came closer to help comb it back. Merida jumped at the contact and grabbed his wrist.

Jack felt frozen. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-.”

“Don’t surprise me like that.” Her glance switched from his eyes to his wrist back to his eyes. She slowly let go of his wrist. “But the snow was cool though.” She admitted.

He couldn’t help but feel a little warmer. But the Athenian blood started talking again. “I bet you can’t top that.”

“Watch me.” She took her bow and an arrow from her bag and aimed towards a tree. She waited for several seconds. A leaf swiftly floated through the air inly to be pinned against a tree with a single arrow. She slowly lowered her bow and took a second.

Jack folded his arms and let out a huff. “Alright, impressive. Bet you can’t hit it-‘

Her second arrow pierced right through the first one.

Jack swallowed his last words and stayed silent. Okay, now he was speechless. Even a few soldiers he knew by name weren’t that good in archery.

Her arrogance quickly returned. “Do you understand now why I need the arrows.”

“Because you’re that good and you keep splitting your own arrows.”

“Exactly.” She smiled cocky.

He shook his head.  _Note to myself. Steal some arrows for that redhead because she needs them._ A weird thought suddenly crossed his mind. “How do you have all these different powers? Animal transformation, fire magic, you couldn’t have all of that from you dad.”

She stroke back a few red strains. “You know everything, don’t you?”

“I observe, that’s different.“ he went to sit back on the ground and leaned against one of the stone pillars. “Care to tell me?”

“So you can write it down?” she commented bitterly.

He rolled his eyes and took his bag. He searched for his book and threw it a meter away from him. “It’s out of range and I don’t have very good memory. Go for it.”

She sauntered slowly over to him and decided to pick up the book.

“I’ll tell you my origin story.” He quickly tried to capture her attention away from the book. She did not need to know what he was writing about. Especially about her.

She seemed to consider it and eventually threw it back on the ground to sit next to him keeping a fair space between them.

“You have no respect for books, do you?”

“I have no respect for your stuff. And you know exactly why.”

“Okay, I’m sorry for throwing your bow on the ground.”

“Thank you.”

He leaned his head against the stone pillar and glanced over to her with his blue eyes. “Spill it. How did you become the daughter of the God of War?”

“My mother was royalty.”

He knew that but still showed an expression of surprise.

“My dad kind of just had a fling for her and before she knew it she was pregnant. He had no idea. And she… she just didn’t want a child that wasn’t from her husband so she abandoned me in the forest when I was one year old.”

Okay, that wasn’t in his books. “Merida, are you serious?” he sat himself straight, wanted to lay his hand on hers but quickly pulled it back when she noticed. Maybe not such a good idea.

She ignored that awkward moment and shrugged. “I barely knew about it. Artemis found me and was so angry of my mother’s deed she turned her into a bear.” She let out a chuckle. “A freaking bear.”

Jack couldn’t help but find it funny as well. As far as he knew, the woman deserved it. “You were abandoned in these forests?”

“Why do you think Artemis allows me to hunt here?”

“Fair point, she doesn’t like it when I hang around here.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“Please, continue.”

“She granted me one of her powers of transformation so I could always be able to protect myself. She brought me Ares. And just then he found out he had a daughter.”

“Didn’t he want revenge for his little-lass?”

“He did but Artemis vengeance was satisfying enough. So he let Phobos take me in in one of his cities and I grew up with my brothers learning me how to fight.”

“Your father actually raised you?”

“Yeah why? Is that so weird?” she frowned and suddenly realized why he was so surprised about it. “You mother never raised you?”

Jack let himself sink in the grass until he laid his head on the ground. Raising wasn't the perfect word to describe it. “Ugh, she’s technically not my mother. She saved me when I almost died when I was a teen.”

“Are you kidding me? And she calls you her son?”

“What else? I never knew my parents before that, she granted me my powers to save me. What else was I supposed to do? I would’ve died if it wasn’t for her.”

“You don’t know your parents?”

“You can’t miss what you can’t remember.” Jack sighed.

Merida wanted to open her mouth to say something but got interrupted by a small shriek from her horse. She glared at Angus who angrily blew at her.

Jack pushed himself up. “What’s wrong?”

“Angus is thirsty. He always starts whining when I don’t immediately give him what he wants.”

Jack chuckled, stood up and reached his hand out to her to help her up. “My lady.”

She shook her head but eventually took his hand and pointed north. “There’s a lake a half-an hour walk from here.”

He found it hard to swallow. “A lake.”

“Problem?”

“No.” he lied. Maybe he should’ve explained how he almost died.

 

* * *

 

It was a broad stream dividing the forest in several parts. Merida made sure Angus could drink and then sat herself on the edge to dab her feet in the water. Jack kept a safe distance.

As soon as she noticed, he found himself taking another step back. He was not coming near the water.

“What is wrong with you? Come closer.”

“I-I don’t-uh-I’m not -.”

“Something wrong, snowflake?” she quirked her head but quickly shifted her demeanour. “Are you afraid of the water?”

Jack folded  his arms and avoided her gaze. “Maybe.”

“You have ice-powers.”

“Yes, and I’m afraid of water!” he sputtered out. “Happy? You know my weakness.”

She let out the same small giggle again and walked up to him to pull him closer to the lake. “Don’t try to struggle. I have supernatural strength.”

“Merida, don’t-wow!” She immediately got him closer to the lake to the point he stood frozen over the edge. “Merida, don’t you dare push me in!”

“I won’t.” she assured him. “The stream isn’t that strong. Try to step in it.”

“In HADES’ Tartarus NO!”

“Jack, just take a risk for once. I’m trying to help.”

He felt as if his feet were rooted to the ground. That was one of the first times she called him by his name. He kind of liked it.

“Jack…” She repeated. A silence fell and Jack still felt her hands pushing on his back. There was no way he was getting out of this.

“Just try one step.”

“Mer-“

“No, try it.”

He grunted and slowly tried stepping into the water with trembling legs. Instead, the water froze and his foot softly stepped on a layer of ice.

“Okay, that’s no fair. You’re freezing the water.”

“I can’t help it. The feeling of water can cause me to faint.”

“Oh boohoo, no it won’t.” she went to stand in front of him and stepped into the water that wasn’t topped with a layer of ice yet. Before he could even reject, she took his staff out of his hands and took one of his hand in hers. “Now try stepping into the water. I got you.”

He shook his head and found trouble to speak. “Merida, I can’t-“

“Jack, I’m right here. Nothing bad is going to happen. You’re not the only one afraid of something.”

He looked down at her blushed face and red hair. What could a brutal Spartan be afraid off? Athenian military forces?

“I hate it when it’s storming, I hate the sight of lightning and the sound of thunder. What you need to do is to conquer your fears.”

Although her confession was encouraging. It didn’t really help. Even though he enjoyed flight, compared to water he wanted his feet to stay firmly on the ice. “I drowned.”

“What?” her sky blue eyes suddenly shifted up to meet his.

“That’s how I died. I drowned in a frozen lake. I can’t do this.” The frosted layer on the water spread around her legs. The water began to feel freezing cold around her feet.

“Jack, you’re making the water cold.”

“Then let me go.”

“Not until you step into the water. You need to face your fears.”

He cursed himself and tried another step but his powers froze the water before he could even touch it. He closed his eyes and let out a frustrated groan.

“It’s okay.” She encouraged him. “Try taking another step.”

“The ice is going to break.”

“No, it’s not. Your powers are stronger than that. Try another step.”

He did. The water froze again. He suddenly felt her hand let go of his and his eyes flashed open. “What are you doing?!”

“Just trust me.”

“I don’t-“

“I had to. Now it’s your turn.” She carefully took a few steps back in the water and handed him his staff. “You standing on the water. You’re trying.” She smiled.

“Can I go back now?”

“No, try a little longer.” She walked towards a few rocks in the water that formed a smaller step down the stream. “See, it’s not that bad. The stream isn’t that strong. You can practically-ah!” she slipped on a rock and fell down into the water.

Jack’s heart jumped and her spurted towards her, every step he took making a frosted layer on the water. “Merida!”

His panic was quickly turned around when he heard her laugh. He reached the end of the downfall and found Merida all wet, head above the surface combing her thick red locks back.

“Oh gods, did you see me fall?”

“Yes, you scared me!” He yelled angrily.

“I scared you? I’m fine, I just slipped. Oh Ares, that was embarrassing.” She kept sitting in the water still combing back her thick hair.

He stroke through his hair and sighed. “Alright, I admit that was funny.” He let out a nervous laugh and held out his hand to help her back up.

She smiled in return and took her hand in his. She suddenly got a devilish smile on her face and pulled him down with her into the water.

Jack yelped. The water surrounded him as he descended into the cold liquid. His mind flashed back to the cold, the darkness. He jumped out and ran to the edge of the lake. He let go of his staff to bury his face in his hands and tried to calm down his breathing. A minute went by. His heartbeat was still racing as the cold water dropped from his hair and clothes.

“Jack?”

He let out another trembling breath. “I…I told you I couldn’t-“ he swallowed.

“I’m sorry.” She apologized. “I thought it would be fun to-“

“This is not fun!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-.”

“I know.” He sighed. He pushed his face in his hands and wanted to scream. It wasn’t her fault. She tried to help. As far as he knew, he admired her effort to help him.

He heard footsteps coming out of the water and suddenly felt a warm cloak being putt around his shoulders. He looked up at a full soaked Merida who kneeled before him and took his hand in hers.

“What are you doing?”

“Fixing my mistake.” Her hands started to glow and casted a warm tingly feeling over his skin.

“I-I don’t mind the cold.” He stuttered.

“I know. But I’m helping you dry. It goes faster if you change clothes.”

He felt his face getting a colour. “I don’t have any other.”

She frowned and seemed to think. She stood up to disappear in the woods and after a few minutes returned with stacks of wood and made a bonfire. It stayed silent. Jack felt his clothes slowly dry and found himself staring into the red flames. He couldn’t comprehend why he was so hypnotized by the colour and the way it moved.

It surprisingly was Jack himself who broke the silence. “Thank you.”

“For pulling you into the water?”

He chuckled. “No, you tried to help. I don’t blame you. Thank you for the fire. It helps.”

She returned his gratitude with a half-smile. She suddenly remarked the dark clouds forming in the sky. Jack noticed her demeanour.

“Can you fly in the rain?” she asked.

“No.” he sighed. “I should head home.”

She nodded. “Are you going to be alright?”

He let out a huff. “I’ll be fine.”

She took her bag and whistled her horse to come back. The black stallion joyfully greeted her.

Jack watched as she tied her bag to the saddle and wanted to step up when she turned back around. She walked back to the bonfire.

“You want your cloak back?” Jack asked confused.

She shook her head. “Can you come earlier tomorrow?”

He choked. “Tomorrow? You want to see me again?”

She balanced awkwardly on her toes and played with the string of her bow. She couldn’t find the right answer to that knowing each one would form a cocky smile on his pale face.

Eventually the grin did appear. “I know a great marketplace in Corinth.” He stood up to meet her gaze and found himself unable to turn his eyes away from hers.

She seemed to both like the idea and doubt about it but eventually agreed on going. All of the sudden she drew closer and gave him a short hug.

Jack was baffled and had no idea where to put his hands. He’d never had received a hug before. Not that he remembered. The contact was so unexpected.

“Thank you for not judging me.”

The Athenian demigod pressed his lips together. Perhaps there was something more to her. She was displayed as a monster in books, in rumours she appeared to be a demon. But none of that compared to what she actually was. She was astounding and he had a bad feeling she knew of those rumours.

“Do you need a ride back?”

“I’m fine.”

She nodded with a satisfied smile and rode away with her horse without looking back.

Jack enjoyed the silence for a while and sighed satisfied. Aside from the fact he almost faced death again, she was quite the company. He could start enjoying it. He took his bag and took out his book and the other from the library. He compared the picture of the author to his own he had drawn this morning. He studied his drawing for several minutes and felt time slowly pass. There was something about how she looked in real life that was unique. And nothing in comparison  to what he saw in Athens.

 

* * *

 

The smith’s assistant was sharpening a sword and watched the dark clouds casting a rainy storm over Athens. He sighed. “Nothing exciting ever happens here.” He muttered.

“Care to rethink that statement?”

The student yelped. He dropped the sword to the ground to find a long skinny shadow standing outside the shop casted in flashes of lightning.

The demigod walked inside and pulled of the cap of his new black cloak revealing his familiar snow white hair.

“W-what are you doing here, your-“

Jack held his hand up to interrupt him. “I told you to call me ‘Jack’. I need your help.” He said while he wondered around the small room filled with weapons.

“Uh, of course. Uhm.” He picked up the sword and rushed to stand beside him. “What do you need?”

“Arrows.”

The student frowned. Arrows were easy to make. He only had to know which designs the demigod needed.

“Lots of them.” Jack smiled. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, chapter 7 is already on the way ;)


	7. The Witch knows!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which being friends was easier than expected, but keeping them was a lot harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I KNOW!  
> Please don't kill me. I had trouble connecting a few chapters. So this one will have to do, I hope.  
> Sorry to keep you guys waiting,

Their meetings had started earlier and earlier to the point Merida needed to sneak out of the city without her father knowing it. She was allowed to go hunting. However, going on trips to exotic markets with a boy of her age wasn’t exactly on the list of the God of War. So she often made up excuses that she liked to go hunting in the morning rather than waiting until noon. Which was a major lie; Merida often stayed up late and ended up sleeping until noon.

The exotic market in Corinth was a chaos as always. People pushed each other out of the way to get to their destination, merchants yelled to greet possible customers and the air smelled of spices and other sorts of food.

It was their third week in each other’s company  Jack liked it that Merida finally felt comfortable enough to let him put his arm around her. That way, the two wouldn’t lose each other in the crowd. Both of them had left their official clothes at home so both wouldn’t be recognized as a citizen of Athens nor Sparta. Jack found Merida looked astounding in green and every week he got her to come back with less armour and weaponry. She actually looked good in a simple dress, even if she brought her bow on a standard base.

The student, whose name turned out to be Hiccup, had made Jack a sort of bag that could hold his staff strapped on his back with a couple of leather strings and metals. With this handy tool he always had his attribute with him and no one could steal it. The only thing he had trouble with was that he constantly found himself trying to hold Merida’s hand the moment the market became too crowded. Which surely was responded with Merida pulling her hand back. But Jack couldn't help it. Although he loved these trips, he didn't like crowded places. Merida held her hands close to her waist while they walked through the busy crowd. 

Not that she didn't trust him. The past weeks Jack had worked himself into a lot of trouble; constantly traveling outside Athenian borders avoiding most meetings with his mother and her court. He kept trying until the point he flew too close to several poachers in owl form and Merida had to come and save him. If she hadn’t earned his trust until then, she had now. They were almost inseparable on their trips. If one worked themselves in quite a mess, the other got them out.

At this moment, Jack held one of his journals and studied one of the statues that stood in the middle of the market. Merida went to stand beside him and looked over his shoulder to what he was writing. “How many journals do you actually have?”

“One for each god.” Jack looked up at the statue of Hera and back down again to note down his reflections on the goddess.

“Do you have one about my father?”

“Of course.” He grinned not even looking at her over his shoulder as he adjusted the small drawing of the Queen of all Gods.

“Am I in it?”

He noticed her sly demeanour. He found a grin on his own face and closed his book. “Perhaps, but I’m not showing you.”

Her cute blushed face jumped in front of him blocking his vision of the statue. “Did you write down my weaknesses?”

He chuckled. “I don’t even know your weaknesses. Compared to me you’re an actual god.” Being afraid of thunder wasn’t exactly a weakness. Being afraid of freaking water, now that was something that could hold you back.

“Well, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Take it as you want, I’m not showing you my notes.”

She rolled her eyes and decided to let the topic go for a while.

Jack decided to leave his notes for as it was, putt away his journal and took Merida’s hand in his. She didn’t pull away this time. He tried to hide his smile and walked further with the redhead by his side.

“I see you two got on quite well.”

Jack froze and shared a shocked look with Merida. They recognized that voice from anywhere. Merida’s grip on his hand tightened. Her gaze didn’t leave him once, scared to face the voice that called out to them.

Jack swallowed and looked over his shoulder to a stand filled with woodcarvings and potions with an old woman feeding a cracker to an odd looking crow. It took Jack a few seconds before he convinced himself to walk over to the stand. He had some unfinished business with this woman.

“You!” he started dragging Merida along with him.

“I see you gained your staff back. I guess the lass helped ya’?”

Jack frowned and had to hold back a mean comment. “Why did you steal it in the first place?”

“You two were so caught up with each other, I thought you didn’t need it.” The woman grinned amused with the demigod’s shock and inability to come up with any answer.

“It’s my attribute, you witch!”

Merida stayed silent throughout the conversation. Although she’d hoped to never see the witch again in her life, she did not want to leave Jack’s side.

“So is her bow, but has she paid for it?” she switched an odd look with Jack. “No, so I had to take my business elsewhere. But I see you two found each other quite well.”

Jack felt his cheeks get a colour and Merida’s hand pull back. _No, why did she say that?_

No answer to the comment came so the witch continued her rant. “You’re lucky you’re a demigod Merida of Sparta or I would’ve have cursed you with the same faith as your mother.”

Merida gasped and wanted to pull her weapon when Jack stopped her. His eyes found hers as he tried conveying his message. _Violence won’t help this time._

Her eyes flickered and she dropped her hands.

Jack sighed and looked back at the despicable witch. “How much did the bow cost?”

He felt a sharp pinch from Merida in his arm but ignored her. The witch looked up at him surprised but satisfied with the suggestion of actual payment.

“That bow is constructed of very strong wood. It costs a fortune.”

“How…much.” Jack insisted.

“Jack!” Merida tried turning him around to look at her but he pulled away from her. 

The witch grinned. “With that money you could buy a much more powerful potion from me. You’ll get better company than little miss Sparty over here.” She gestured to Merida. "I'm sure your mother wouldn't mind."

Jack frowned. His demeanour grew immensely dark. Merida was fine company, end of story. The witch told him the price and within minutes a little sack filled with coins fell on the wooden table with a loud thud.

The witch quirked an eyebrow and took the sack to inspect it.

Jack let out a sigh still glaring at the old woman. “She isn’t in your debt anymore. And I would like you to leave her alone.”

“Are you sure you want to spend your money on this? Even your mother has bought better items from my shop.”

Again she mentioned his mother. Athena. “My mother?” Jack frowned. What would his mother need from a mean old witch? “What did she buy?”

“You should ask her yourself.” The witch grinned, putting away the large amount of money. “But I would worry about the Spartan lass first.”

Jack glared at her but suddenly missed the warm presence from Merida.  He glanced over his shoulder and couldn’t find her anywhere in the crowd. Where had she gone? He ignored the witch’s evil laugh and started running through the mass of people. She couldn’t have gone far, right?

_Why did she run? What did I do wrong?_

He started to panic and went through his white hair looking at every direction she might have gone to. He pushed further through the crowd and suddenly remarked the same grey figure of a wolf ahead going into the woods. He grunted frustrated. She was not getting away from him that easily. He turned around a corner into an empty alleyway and took his magical form.

 

* * *

 

She ran as fast as she could but stopped when she saw the snow white owl descending in rapid speed blocking her way.

“You don’t just leave like that!” Jack yelled in his human form.

“Jack, I just need to go.”

“No, you don’t.” Everything was going fine. “You would’ve said goodbye.” He wanted to add something but the sound of the oh-so-familiar horn enacted through the woods. Every time it would make that annoying sound, Jack could swear he became angrier and angrier when he heard it. He grabbed Merida’s arm before she could run. “Just explain to me why you suddenly ran.”

“Let me go.” She yelled at him.

Whatever it was, it really threw her off. She was panicking, breathing heavily and she really wanted to get out of this situation. Jack suddenly felt a stinging pain on his skin as she grabbed his arms to free herself from his grasp. “Gah!”

He looked at his arms and wrists, remarked the small burn marks and gasped. Did she really just burn him to get away from him?  The moment he wanted to look back at Merida, she was gone without explaining herself.

He clenched his fists and cursed almost every god he could recall from his memory.

 

* * *

 

“So, did you find Ares’ daughter, the monster.”

Jack smirked while Hiccup took care of his wounds. He may have broken a few rules but his new friendship with the mortal had been more fun than he had his whole life in the Acropolis. After two weeks even, Hiccup finally managed to stop putting him on a pedestal and call him Jack. He stopped stuttering too. “No, but I found a lovely girl instead.”

“Is that what you’ve been doing for the past weeks?”

Jack nodded and hissed when the student started to clean out the wounds.

“You’re a demigod, you’ve had worse.” Hiccup grinned. “So which creature gave you these marks.”

“The same creature I’ve been spending the last three weeks with.”

“She burned you?”

Jack frowned and looked down at the wounds. “I still haven’t figured out why.”

“Did you offend her or anything?” The brown haired student asked.

“The fact she’s Spartan hasn’t come up in days.” Jack figured. Maybe it had something to do with their encounter with the witch.

Hiccup forgot to stop pressing the fabric with liquid on Jack’s skin. The stinging increased incredibly and Jack had to press his lips together from screaming letting out a muttered scream. “Hiccup, get it off!”

“She’s a Spartan?!”

“I’m sorry I forgot to mention that fact. Now please get it off my skin!”

The student looked down and pulled back his hand. “Oh Athena, I’m sorry. But seriously, a Spartan?!” _I’ve been making arrows for a freaking Spartan?_

“She actually turned out better than I expected.”

“She burned you!”

“After three weeks, I call that a record.” Jack laughed.

Hiccup could not find the logic in it and watched Jack with a very confused look. “You’ve lost your mind, haven’t you?”

The demigod shook his head. “No, I haven’t. I’m just not thinking straight. I did something that upset her and I don’t know what.”

“She’s a Spartan, it can be anything.” Hiccup mumbled as he putt away his stuff. “Maybe because you paid her debt, she thought she was finally rid of you. That way she can keep the bow.”

“Would you stop that. She’s great company.” He narrowed his eyes to the ground. “She would never do that.” He said it more to convince himself than he tried convincing Hiccup.

“Look at your arms and rethink that statement.” He commented.

“She saved my life once.”

“She’s still a Spartan.” His new friend said as he took out another weapon he could sharpen while Jack carefully watched.

“She’s great in archery.”

“Okay, maybe you’re just very lonely.” Hiccup figured.

Jack shook his head. It was true but still it hurt. “She’s surprisingly a wonderful person to hang out with.”

He leaned on the wood of a table with a daring expression. “Maybe you’re in love with her.” He proposed.

It stayed silent for several seconds as both men looked at each other with a very severe expression. They both seemed to consider the possibility, only to burst out into laughter simultaneously.

“Yeah, no.” They both stated.

Jack chuckled and pushed himself off his seat. “Do you think I need to talk to her?”

“You’re practically a guardian of wisdom. Don't ask me."

“Still not an excuse. Whenever I’m near this woman, I forget to think logically.”

“Again.” Hiccup rushed to stand before him, empathizing every word. “She’s a Spartan. Moral enemy. Doesn’t that ring a bell?”

“You’re not exactly helping.”

“Well, right now I’m the only help you’ve got.”

“Do you know what I have to do to get her to talk to me?”

Hiccup failed to keep his laugh in. “Hah, you’re on your own.”

 

* * *

 

She had no idea why she did it, but she felt horrible. For the past hour, Merida kept staring at her hands as she heard the faint sound of rain dropping in tics on her roof. She sighed. He was too good to be an Athenian. He was too kind to be the son of Athena. She buried her face in her hands and let out a frustrated groan. She couldn’t forgive him for what he did. The bow had been her problem. He didn’t need to help and yet he did the first moment he knew about it.

 _Why do I like that doofus so much?_ He was an idiot. A stupid Athenian idiot! The main reason why she ran, was the witch. She recognized both of them. Not only that, the witch knew his mother. If she would ever find out about her son and –

Merida shook her head still trying to shake off the image of a shocked and paralyzed Jack as he looked at the burned marks on his wrists. She could barely get her thoughts straight. She could be in so much trouble but more importantly she could never see the Athenian again. It would only mean war. Not only for her but also for him and she didn’t want that.

 _I've hurt him. He trusted me and I scarred him with wounds._ She normally didn't freak out like that. But Jack's presence somehow made her more fiery, somehow more chaos erupted. She was more passionate when he was present. Somehow everything increased her response in emotions. Everything became a mess when she was emotional. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have the Athenian near her. 

Her weary thoughts were interrupted by a sudden knock. She jumped from her seat and walked towards her door. She hesitated to open it.

“Merida, open up. It’s me!” His low-pitched voice sounded through the wood. Merida took a step back at hearing his voice.

“If you don’t open this door. I swear to my mother, I’ll break in.”

He knew she was home. More importantly, he knew where she lived! 

“Merida, get that ass over here and open the door. I swear to ATHENA!”

She grunted and opened the door to find a soaked wet demigod standing in front of her.

His clothes were soaked, water dripped from his nose and his hair was combed back. He let out a trembling breath. “Do you have some dry clothes or anything.” Jack tried to laugh at the situation but failed miserably. Even his bandages were wet. Luckily his wounds were almost healed after a few days. One of the perks of his powers.

She practically pulled him and shut the door violently behind them.

Jack sniffed and tried wiping the drops from his face. “The weather sucks. I think my mother’s making a fuss with Hera again.”

She handed him some dry clothing and folded her arms. “Jack…”

He held his hand up before she could continue. “I just want to know why you freaked out.”

“I-I’m sorry-“ She took his wrists and took off the wet bandages to see what she caused. The wounds had already healed but the marks were still there. With some luck, he wasn’t left with any scars.

“What was it?” Jack asked ignoring her worrying gaze set on his arms.

“The witch.” She answered bland.

He frowned. “I paid, she shouldn’t bother you anymore.” He pulled back his hands and traded his wet blue shirt for a red one she’d just given him.

“I never asked you to.”

“So? What if I wanted to?”

“But-!”

“No! I have enough money to effort a second villa. You think the bow worries me?” He finally managed to show a wry smile. He laid his hands on her shoulders and forced her to look up at him. “That witch will leave you alone. And she will leave me alone. No more excursions to harbours or fighting over whose attribute got stolen. Isn’t that good?”

“Well, yes but-“

He raised an eyebrow. He’d done good coming here. Maybe he risked his life crossing Spartan borders with an Athenian uniform. But gaining his friend back was worth it. Although he didn’t like walking through the rain for miles. For the moment, she hadn't even questioned him how he found the place. He was glad she didn't or else he had to explain how he had followed her home twice to make sure she got home safe.  _Stalker alert._

“She knows your mother.”

“Everybody knows my mother.” Jack let out a huff.

”You’re not just a little worried that your mother might find out?”

He grinned. “No.” He answered confidently. “My mother does not have a say about who I make friends with. And if she ever threatens to hurt you, she’ll have to go through me. You’re my friend, Merida.”

He felt his heart skip a beat when a small smile returned on her face. _There she was again._  

“You’re bringing us in danger with this.” She objected.

“We’ve faced worse things. We’re demigods. We can take the chance, can’t we?”

She doubted and Jack swiftly pulled back his hands carefully waiting for what he hoped was a good response.

She bit her lip and then sighed. “Maybe, but you can’t return home in a Spartan uniform.”

He grinned relieved. She was right about that though but he was glad having gained his friend back. The Red fabric with the Spartan symbol on his back was thicker than most Athenian clothing. It was warmer. 

He stayed late that night not only waiting for his clothes to dry but also for the rain to stop. Merida’s home was small but filled with old books, armoury and old rags from places even he hadn’t visited yet. It somehow had its charm. He felt himself more comfortable here than he ever did in his own home. If he could call it that.

He quickly switched clothes with Merida having her back turned to him. Once dressed, he walked up to her and gave her one last hug. He felt her stiffen for a moment but she eventually melted in his embrace releasing a heavy sigh.

“I’m sorry about the wounds.”

He chuckled and pulled himself out of their hug to look into her eyes. “Don’t ever mention it again. You wanted my ass kicked and you got it. End of story.”

She snorted at his comment and suddenly pulled him closer to peck a kiss on his cheek. Jack froze and felt his feet pinned to the wooden floor. “Please; get your arse home safe.” The kiss was her apology for the marks on his arms. 

“C-can’t make any promises.” He tried answering cocky. But he couldn’t help stuttering. Fortunately for him, Merida didn’t notice. He quickly saluted her and parted his way back to Athens.

Jack couldn’t help but touch the warm skin on his cheek where she had left a kiss. It was a friendly gesture of course. But to Jack, it felt tingling. Leaving a mark, a strange and soft sensation. He stayed seconds in trance wondering why the short touch on his cheek was so hypnotizing. He eventually tried putting it out of his mind as he came home. But the rest of the night, he stayed wide awake in his bed reflecting on the past days he’d spent with the Spartan. This was good, wasn’t it?

He’d gained friends, had the most fun he’d had in years and yet he fretted about what the future would bring. Was it really a smart choice to keep the daughter of the God of War as a friend?  Or was Jack losing his mind? He closed his eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep. Entering a dream with a fiery redhead with bright aquamarine eyes. Longing for her warm touch to return.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, shit.  
> Fluff all the way!  
> I hope you guys are still reading this, if not  
> i don't blame you


	8. Friends or enemies?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jack and Merida's friendship takes a turning point...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an extra long chapter, enjoy the holidays x

It was dark. And it was cold. Jack felt himself floating in the freezing water. Unable to move, unable to open his eyes. He was stuck in this moment between life and death. The moon being his only light and the cold being his embrace. This moment had been printed in his mind for years. For centuries. And every time this reoccurring dream would end the same. The cold infecting his skin, and the darkness entering his heart as he was pulled out of the surface by an incredible force.

He never thanked his mother for his powers, nor did he hate her for it. She’d saved him from accepting death’s embrace, then again she expected much more from him in return.

His dream was the same yet again. He was drowning. His lungs filled with cold water, his body unable to make a motion. His nerves shut down, unable to feel anything.

He suddenly felt motion disturbing the still water. He felt something. He felt warmth. A small hand took his and instantly pulled him towards the surface. The cold left his skin as he was pulled out of the icy water into the warm light of the sun. H-he could open his eyes.

He took a heavy but trembling breath and slowly opened his eyes with the bright light of the sun blinding him. It took a few seconds before his eyes adjusted to the bright colours around him. His eyes focused on the small but curvy edged figure in front of him. Her warm hands cupped his face, bringing him in full realization who saved him from the ice.

“I-I was supposed to-to drown.”

She smiled. The vivid colours around him brightening. She inched closer. She needed little effort to pull his face closer to hers, he leaned in instantly.

“Not this time.” She whispered before she kissed him. it wasn’t a very passionate kiss. It was soft, slow, exploring every curve on his thin lips.

Jack gasped. His eyes flashed upon and her beautiful image disappeared.

* * *

 

Jack woke up frustrated. He grunted and rubbed his eyes. It had been the third time this week he woke up from a dream involving the Spartan. He didn’t need to look down knowing something had risen between his legs underneath the sheets.

“Faex.” He cursed silently. He dropped himself back on his mattress and let out a deep sigh.

His dreams were never sexual. NEVER. Never had he craved for the touch of a mortal. And this was the first time his usual nightmare got interrupted by her. If it was a dream involving HER, it was never wishing that sort of contact. And now? Well, now he was. He closed his eyes again and sighed. _I am very disappointed in you._  He thought to himself.

He’d never dreamed about her. Up until his bodily contact with her became more comfortable. Yep, now all he wanted to do was kiss her and all of that from a stupid peck on the cheek, which meant nothing but a friendly gesture.

“You’re just not used to contact like that. You’re exaggerating.” He tried convincing himself.

But he couldn’t help but imagine how kissing the Spartan would feel like. How she would taste. He wasn’t supposed to think that way about a friend, certainly not about one born out of the blood of his enemy.

He could close his eyes, return to the dream and see how it would end but perhaps that wasn’t such a smart idea.  Was this Eros doing? If it was, Jack would soon plan out his revenge. But he quickly shook off the thought of possibly gaining feelings for the redhead. Instead, he got out of bed and dressed himself for the usual gathering he had to sit through at his mother’s temple.

Jack carefully stayed by his mother’s side as they observed the female priest consulting the immense statue of Athena. Jack ignored her words but was suddenly thrown off by his mother starting the conversation.

“I’ve been thinking. We should head up north some time to visit the King I was talking about.”

“Mother,-“

“Jack, I beg you. I’ve been asking you to consider this for a very long time. And Athens needs allies more than ever.”

“Maybe, but why can’t some senate do it?”

“Wouldn’t it be more spectacular and memorable if you were to be that person. Athens and the Northern cities would lay at your feet.” Her cold colourless eyes looked down at him.

Jack felt himself unable to move under the dark stare of his mother. He wondered if he inherited the darkness that filled the goddess’s heart.  He swallowed. “Perhaps I can meet them, and form allies through friendship? But you can’t expect me to come out of the shadows after such a long time and immediately marry someone I barely know.”

His mother’s expression seemed to soften. “You said you felt alone and when the opportunity comes to spend your life with someone, you turn it down?” She sighed discouraged. “You know as well as I that we don’t just form allies and connect families by making friends. Marriage is political, Jack. We don’t marry just for love.”

“I can bet the differ.” He mumbled. His mother didn’t hear him. Instead, she left the conversation unfinished and turned back to the prayers directed at her. His mother was being inconsistent. Although her main motives were making allies, she used his own struggles against him as an excuse. Yes, he didn’t have many friends. Many couldn’t even see him but was marriage really the answer?

* * *

 

 

“How much for the fox?”

Jack crossed his arms and watched the merchants he had embarked near the border of Athens. One of the men raised his eyebrows. “Why does a guy like you want a fox?”

The man wasn’t talking to Jack. Hicc stood next to him as his voice since the merchants didn’t seem to believe in the spirit. Jack sighed and dropped another bag of coins in Hicc’s hand. “We need it.”

Hicc threw him a weary look and then shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.” He turned back to the merchant. The student threw a glance to the small cage where a small red fox resided. Hicc wasn’t exactly the type you expected to find at an illegal market. Or dealing with anything in that manner.

Jack had asked him for weird things. Make arrows for somebody else than an Athenian, clean wounds that were caused by a freaking girl and even explain to him why one shouldn’t freak out when receiving a kiss on the cheek. _No, Jack she did not try to poison you._  […] _Jack, no. that is not the way all friends say goodbye_. Gods, for a demigod, Jack seriously needed to get out more. In short, Jack had turned Hicc’s world upside down. But this was just plain odd. He had to buy a fox from illegal Athenian merchants because they couldn’t see and hear Jack. For a second, he wished he stood on their side.

Hicc eventually managed to pay the merchants and received the little animal in his hands. The fox looked up at him with an odd fascination and tipped its wet nose against his chin. He normally was a fan of animals, very passionate about them even but for some reason the fox gave him a weird vibe.

As soon as they headed back home. Jack turned a corner and took the fox out of Hicc’s hands.

“Why do you need a pet fox? You’re a pet yourself!”

Jack threw him a glare. He was not his mother’s pet and he didn’t like it when Hicc decided to backtalk. He lifted the fox in front of him and examined it. “This is the second time this week, you know I don’t like you being in Athens.”

Hicc felt his eye twitch. “What are you talking about?”

Jack threw him another glare and putt the fox down on the ground. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

“What? You and the fox met before? Honestly Jack. You have no friends except for me and the Spartan red-“ Hicc stopped when Jack gestured him violently to quit it.

“Don’t go pushing the truth in my face, Hicc. Let’s just say this fox has been captured before and SHE-“ Jack looked down angrily at the animal. “needs to be more careful around poachers. Artemis wouldn’t want one of her creatures being captured.”

“You’re not best buddies with Artemis, why help?”

“Procrastination. Athena’s been hassling me about something and I’m trying to postpone it as long as possible.”

“Better you than me.” He shrugged. Hicc turned around to leave but Jack stopped him handing him a key. “What’s this?”

“Key to the restricted area of the library. I had to do some sneaking around to get it. Have fun.” The demigod winked, picked the fox back up and walked off.

Hicc saw infinite possibilities right in the palm of his hand. The restricted area. What ancient scrolls could he find there? He jumped excited and rushed to the library as fast as he could.

* * *

 

 

**Three hours ago.**

“Well, you’re a pile of SHIT!” Merida yelled.

She stood just a few inches from a large man who had insulted her right after she scolded him for whistling at her. She didn’t like to be hit on and for all she cared she could call her father on them. However, Merida preferred to sort out her own problems. Especially when a group of men thought it was okay to call after her for not responding to their ‘compliment’.

“Merid-“

“Keep your mouth shut!” She yelled over her shoulder at Jack. The Athenian stood their awkwardly holding his staff. The men couldn’t see him so Jack decided not to intervene. However, he did not like it how they talked to his friend.

“He called me a lupa!” _Slut._

“You know talking to yourself means you need company, fine lady.”

Jack’s gaze found Merida’s. He seemed to share the same bitter feeling as her.

“Can I kill them?” she asked. She wanted to change into animal form to scratch them in places where the sun didn’t shine.

No one insulted his best friend like that. And if she wanted to punish them, he would let her. “Go for it.”

* * *

 

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. It took Jack quite a while to convince Hiccup he needed a voice to talk to the men without having to explain the little fox was Merida. Without having to explain why the men had bruises and blood stains on their clothes. Gods, Merida could be ferocious if she wanted to.

Jack walked further towards his villa and noticed clouds forming in the sky. “Oh-oh.” The fox curled up in his arms and tried to hide its face in the fabric of his tunic when flashes of lightning appeared. Jack hissed and counted the seconds. It took a while before he heard thunder. That meant the lighting was far away but a storm was coming. He felt the fox trembling.

“It’s okay.” He whispered. “But we have to keep moving if we want a roof over our heads before it starts raining.”

The fox cried.

“Stop whining Merida. The lightning is far away. It’s not going to do anything.” He hushed. He quickly looked around to see if anyone was around and laid the fox down on the ground. In merely two seconds, Merida had gained human form when lightning flashed again and ran back to Jack’s arms for safety.

Laughter escaped his mouth but it quickly died out when the thunder blared faster and louder than he had first counted. Merida shrunk. Jack couldn’t help but wonder what in the underworld the gods were up to now. 

“Man, what is the matter with Zeus?”

“Doesn’t matter. Get me somewhere inside!”

Rain started to fall down. Jack grunted. _Great, that’s what we’re missing. Rain._ He took her shoulders urging her to look up at him. “A thank you would be appreciated.”

“Whose fault was it that I got caught?”

Jack pressed his lips together. _Okay, fair point._  

“Jack, I was supposed to be home an hour ago.”

“You’re not getting there through this storm. These signs mean there is a fight going on Olympus. We need to w-Oh gods !” Lightning and thunder now appeared almost simultaneously. Jack grabbed Merida and pulled her towards a small house with a small roof over its door.

“Why did we mess with those merchants again?” Merida asked him, her face pressed against his chest.

Jack grinned. “We were bored. They insulted you. I didn’t hold your angry ass back and here we are.”

She sighed and jumped when the storm thundered again. “Can we go inside?”

The door behind them suddenly opened revealing a confused civilian. He eyed the duo with a strange expression. Jack just now realized Merida wore her original clothing. It didn’t matter if the civilian could see Jack. Merida had to get out of here. He chuckled nervously and pulled Merida back into the rain.

“What are you doing?!”

“You’re wearing Spartan clothes. What do you think is going to happen when people see you like this?”

“It’s storming we need to get somewhere inside.”

“Again, you’re wearing Spartan clothes, Merida!”

“Then we’ll pick a house that’s empty.”

“We are not breaking and entering a house!” He yelled. Water was dripping from his face, their clothes were soaked and even Merida’s hair didn’t have the strength to stay up.

It was as Poseidon was aiding with this storm. What was up on Olympus? It didn’t stop and only got worse with the second. Maybe Ares was up there throwing a tantrum? He decided to not say out loud. 

Merida pulled him down a path and knocked on the first house she found without a light. “No answer. Screw it!” She yelled impatiently.

Jack raised an eyebrow. “We can’t just do that!”

“There is nobody home. It’s not like were stealing anything.”

“We’re still breaking in.”

“Oh gods, you’re such a goodie!”

“No, I’m not.”

“Jack, It’s a shit storm out here. Let’s go inside.” With little effort she opened the door. She lit her hand to search the place for anyone present and stepped inside. Jack felt the urge to strangle her but eventually followed her inside.

“We shouldn’t be in here.”

“You should stop nagging.” She walked around and decided nobody resided in the home.

“We shouldn’t be barging in the first hole we find.” Jack stopped her.

She ignored him and went to check upstairs. After a few seconds, she returned and put out the fire in her hand. “A home without any people in it. I call it a lucky shot!”

Jack grunted, combed his hair back and started flashing at her with wild hand gestures. They couldn’t just break in! Jack did a lot of things to mess around with people but never break their privacy. “UGH! You are such a bad influence on me!”

“You want to stay here or leave me here and walk home through that mess?”

“You know I don’t want to leave you here.”

“Good. Then get yourself a seat, we’ll be here for a while. I- EEP!” Thunder roared again. Merida jumped and shrunk in her seat.

Although her yelp was adorable, he felt bad for her. Her expression was so familiar. That’s how he felt underwater. Helpless, scared and unable to do anything. “You really don’t like thunder, do you.”

“I don’t like shit-storms like these.”

“Well, does it help if I explain how it works.”

She threw him an irritated look but Jack sat down next to her and started his explanation anyway. “Lightning comes first.”

“So?”

“When lighting flashes you need to count. If it takes a few seconds before the thunder sounds, it means it’s not that close to you.”

She seemed to take that into account when another light flashed into the house but it didn’t take long before another roar of thunder sounded. “That doesn’t really help!” she pulled her legs up against her chest.

“You’re inside. You’re fine.”

“How you do know?!”

“I just know, alright!”

“You can’t know everything!”  

Jack felt frustrated. She didn’t listen and seemed to panic more with each thunder that clashed. Maybe science wasn’t the answer here. “Merida-“

“What?”

“Come here.” He sat closer and wrapped his arms around her. He felt her stiffen but after a few seconds she loosened up.  

“What are you doing?”

“Comforting you?” That wasn’t meant to come out as a question.

“Well, you’re not –“

“I’m not very good at it.”

“I’ve noticed.” She crawled closer to him making the position more comfortable. She sighed satisfied once she found the right position. Her head rested against his neck, his arms were wrapped around her shoulders. “Zeus seems angry.” She said after a while.

“Maybe Hera is throwing a fit?”

She had to giggle but quickly tried to hide it avoiding eye contact with him. But Jack had noticed and tried to bury his grin behind her hair.

With each roar, Merida flinched, Jack’s grip on her tightened. He had to have patience. This storm wasn’t stopping now but he could calm her down. He had to wait.

Jack had to think of the time she tried teaching him how to aim with a bow and an arrow. It didn’t go from the first hit. Jack had tried as best as he could, but he eventually gave up after his hundredth time. He never hit the target. Maybe Merida was just a horrible teacher? But she did have patience with him. Just as he was now patiently waiting for her to breathe easy in his arms.

Merida sighed. She couldn’t endure the silence. The only thing calming her down was somehow  the quite warm contact of Jack and the faint rhythm of his heart. Was that a normal pace or was it racing? The beat did seem to calm her down. But it wasn’t enough. “Please, keep talking.”

“You _want_ me to talk?” he asked confused.

She nodded. Jack’s voice had a gentle tone to it. She rather listened to his boring topics than to the storm raging outside.

“What do you want me to talk about?”

“Anything.”

“Do you know Plato’s cave?”

“Who’s cave?” her blue eyes finally made contact with his.

He smiled and continued. “No, it’s a theory. Plato’s cave is a theory. It’s about a group of people that are tied up in a cave, only to watch shadows that appear on the wall before them. They always see the shadows but never where the shadows come from.”

She nodded trying her best to understand what he was talking about.

Jack adored the way she was looking at him. Or she was genuinely interested or she was faking it. It didn’t matter as long as she kept looking at him like that. “Until at one point, one of the captives breaks free and leaves the cave. That person’s whole world is made out of just shadows so when it opens his eyes to see what the real world looks like, their life isn’t going to be the same anymore. He goes back to tell his buddies about this whole new world and view but his friends don’t believe him. Their world is constructed out of shadows formed by light and nothing else they can’t see outside of it, they are afraid of what might be behind those shadows so they stay in the cave.”

“Why would they stay there?”                                                                                      

“Because they don’t know any better.”

“So why Plato’s cave?” she asked.

“Plato’s theory makes me think of you. Because you kind of freed me from my cave.” His voice now quavered. Maybe he shouldn’t have said to her.

She raised an eyebrow. “Minutes ago you said I was a bad influence on you.”

“Perhaps, but you taught me to break from my mother’s chains. At least, now I experience some real fun.” He looked outside at the shitty weather. “With some exclusions.”

“I’ve brought you in nothing but trouble.” She chuckled nervously following his gaze to the window.

“You know how much fun it is for mortals to chase you and not the other way around?”

She laughed and returned to lean on his shoulders. She sighed relieved. “If that’s what cheers you up.”

Jack bit his lower lip. “D-do you still talk to Eros?”

“Yes, why?”

“Is he really capable of-“

“Yes, he is, Jack.” She cut him off. ”Why are you asking? Are you scared that you’re having a crush on a bunny or something?” she laughed.

 _Correction, a crush on you._ “Of course not. I was just wondering something. Can gods fall in love?” He actually wanted to ask if Eros had already tried hitting him with an arrow. If that wasn’t the case, then Jack was in some major trouble.

His question seemed to surprise her. Merida actually couldn’t find an answer right away. “I-I think so. I mean my dad and Aphrodite, they-“

“Yeah sure, but do they fall in love with mortals?”

“Plenty.” She guessed.

“Think about that. Do you actually know a god that fell in love with a mortal besides the urge to jump into bed with them?”

He thought he could hear her think. It took seconds, even the rumbling of the clouds seemed to be far away now. “Apollo did once, I think.”

“I guess but they never really were a couple. They never really got the chance to be in love.”

“Maybe there’s something to lose.”

“There is, I guess.” He hypothesized. “Perhaps, gods lose their immortality if they commit their life to a mortal.”

“Explains why Hades made Persephone part of the underworld.”

“It does. But I don’t recall a god ever considering to do it.”

“If you were immortal, would you do it?”                                                                       

That was a good question. Jack couldn’t find an answer to it. Would he give up immortality for someone he would supposedly love? “I-I think it would be worth it.” Jack figured eventually. Then again, he never experienced real love. He wanted to ask what she would do when the storm grew louder again.

Merida shrunk and dug back in his embrace. “I want to go home.” She winced against the fabric of his tunic.

“I told you, you’re safe.” He tightened his arms around her.

“I don’t care. I don’t like this, Jack.” She regretted messing with the assholes at the pear. She should have been home hours ago. What in the underworld for an excuse could she use for this?

He awkwardly patted her head trying to calm her. “It’s okay, you’re fine. I’m with you. You’re-“

Her head jerked up. She wanted to glare at him but instead froze when she realized how close her face actually was to his. She just now remarked the small white specks in his irises after staring into them for seconds. It was somehow cooling, even hypnotizing.

“-fine.” Jack finished.  His voice trembled. Since when was she THIS close? Just inches away from him? Why the stare? Was she studying him? Testing him? Jack found himself stuck, in trance by her stare and it pulled him in. He stroke back a wet strain of red hair and laid his hand on her neck. She didn’t move back. He couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t he breathe? Jack’s eyes shifted from her eyes to her lips, back to her eyes. They were both soaked and exhausted. Yet he couldn’t help but find her more beautiful than ever as light flashes accentuated her bright eyes. Jack closed his eyes and leaned in.  Just when he was about to carefully brush her lips a another loud roar sounded.

Merida yelped and pushed her face against his chest sheltering herself from the storm.

Jack managed to touch her upper lip with his for a brief moment before she disappeared back into their hug. Jack’s heart raced. Did she knew? Did she notice? He heard her sigh and felt her tightening her grip around him. She trembled.

Jack sighed and supported his chin on the top of her head. He closed his eyes and listened to her breathing. “I’ll stay here with you until this mess is over.” It seemed that the storm would take longer than they’d thought.

“Thank you.” She whispered. 

* * *

 

 

He was going to kill Eros. This was his fault, wasn’t it?

It was a dream. No, it was a nightmare. He was lying in bed with the enemy. More importantly, she was hovering over him bare naked; smiling down at him as a predator about to catch her prey. “Are you going to do anything or do I have to do it myself?” she asked cunning. She bend down to kiss his neck.

Jack gripped the bed out of surprise and froze. A load moan escaped his mouth. _What in the underworld was that?!!_ Another kiss. Jack tried to pull back but his body was numb, surrendered to her. It was impossible to reject.

She kissed his neck one more time and then continued her trail to his lips. Jack instantly closed his eyes and without doubt kissed her back. Before he knew it his hands were exploring her body, going up and down her back without actually knowing where he should rest them. He felt her skin, her warmth. The heat.

The heat…

Jack realized this was even too hot for him. Her body was smoking. Literally! Jack pulled his hands back and looked at the skin on his palms, it was fiery red. Was this burning him? He took the redhead by the shoulders to look at her. She looked at him irritated that he spoiled their moment. Jack frowned. Holding her shoulders even got too hot. He drew back his hands and watched her with shock.

“You’re burning me.”

“Jack, you’re fine. I’m not doing anything.” She wanted to cup his face to kiss him but he withdrew.  

“Mer-mpf”

She was too quick, she grabbed his neck and kissed him violently. His skin tingled, then hurt, then started burning. Jack wanted to back out. This was paining him. This was too much. He closed his eyes and wanted to scream. How could something he wished that was so sweat and warm, be so poisonous and burning? Something he wanted so bad that he now wanted to push back so it could never touch him again.

Her voice as pleasant as it often was, whispered to him. “Jack, wake up.”

Although he never really dreamed about her like this, he wanted to wake up. Well, he never really dreamed about her this explicitly. Never this wanting. He sort of wanted to see where this would head. Would he burn alive just to feel her or would he pull back eventually because of the pain?

“Jack. For my sake, WAKE UP!”

Jack woke up violently shuffled. He opened his eyes to find the god of travel and thieves in front of him. The winged god grinned and looked over at the sleeping body of Merida. “Having a night out, aren’t we.”

Jack shook his head to shake off the last bits of his dream. He eyed the god confused. “N-no, it’s nothing like that.”

The god would never rat him out, he actually encouraged taking adventures like these. No matter with who it was. “Doesn’t matter, Frosty. Your mother has been calling for you. Luckily for you, she sent me to get you.” He threw another amused glance at the sleeping Spartan on the ground.

Jack couldn’t remember how long they had stayed up. The storm took ages. Merida fell asleep first and then Jack had taken a distance to watch her sleep. Eventually, he dosed off as well.

Hermes took his wrist and pulled Jack towards the door. The demigod stopped and threw one more glance at Merida. “I can’t just leave her here.”

“She’ll be fine. You’ll be back before you know it. But you have to go to your mother first.”

Jack swallowed painfully but decided to follow the god back to the Acropolis. He’d rather face the rage of Merida later than his mother now.

* * *

 

 

Jack sprinted up the stairs of the temple and halted halfway up when his mother stopped him. “You’re late.”

 _Quick, an excuse._ “I’m sorry, I was-“

“I don’t care where you were. You’re late.”

* * *

 

 

Merida’s eyes flashed open. Something felt wrong. No scratch that, something was gone. She looked to her right to see Jack had left. He had left! She was in Athens with nobody to get her out without someone spotting her. The only thing left was his bag. A bag where he kept his journals. Merida looked outside. Okay, so number one : she’d spent the night stuck in a little house with the son of her enemy and it was morning. Number two : that son of a bitch left her alone.

She took his bag and searched for a piece of clothing that would disguise herself. Next to his Journal of Ares, she found a blue hamition,  a sort of cloak she knew Jack wore from time to time when the weather grew colder. Not that he complained about the weather; it was a habit of wearing it. Merida quickly wrapped herself into in and spurted out of the house with Jack’s bag around her shoulder. She was going to kick his arse when she found him. She pulled the thick fabric over her head and looked around her if she could get a glimpse of the Acropolis.

“What are you doing here?!”

Merida jumped and took her bow and arrow to aim it at nobody else but Eros. The god looked at her irritated. “You’re in freaking Athens, you’re wearing their clothes!”

“I know! You don’t need to tell me!”

“Why are you here?!”

“I could ask you the same.” She refused to answer.

“Some business of my mother. You’re not going to like it.” Eros took her hand. “You have got to see this.” Merida followed him until they reached the top of a small hill that had a view on the Acropolis of Athens. It was far enough not to be spotted but just the right distance to see people standing at the temple. One of them being the demigod that bailed on her.

“Eros, what are we doing here?”

The small god sighed. “Athena has been asking my mother for something but I don’t know if it is going to work.”

“What did she ask you?!”

Eros had already lifted his own bow and special arrow and tried aiming at his target.

“Eros, who are you aiming at?” Merida’s voice cracked.

“Athena wants her little bird to fall for either a princess or a river goddess. Because she knows he won’t marry one just because she asks him to. She does think he prefers a goddess rather than a mortal princess.”

“He needs to marry?”

“Myeah, she’s been hassling him for decades.”

“Decades?!”

“The guy’s 300 years, what did you expect?”

Merida’s voice disappeared. Was he immortal?

“I don’t know if it’s going to work though. It only works on people already kind of in love.”

“It’s sound like you tried hitting him before.”

“I have. I missed.”

“WHAT?!”

“I wanted to hit him before but-uh- I hit you instead.” Eros bit his lip and shrunk because of the sudden outburst of rage Merida was throwing at him.

“You hit me?”

“Yeah, it’s not like you’re the type that falls in love immediately. I guessed it didn’t work.” He pulled the string of his bow further back and focused his eyes on the target : the white haired demigod talking to a river goddess.

“Eros, don’t shoot.”

The god’s eyes widened and looked at her horrified. “Why?”

“I just don’t want you to shoot.”

“He’s Athena’s son, why in any way would it affect you?”

Merida didn’t answer. Her hand rested on the bag she had carried with her.

Eros slowly lowered his bow and took her by her arms. “My arrow worked on you?”

“Eros, no. I-“

“You’re in LOVE WITH HIM?”

“No!”

His expression was filled with terror. “I can’t believe it. I caused this.”

“Eros, It’s not what you think.” She grabbed his hands and forced him to look at her. “It’s nothing.”

“You have feelings for this guy-“

“No, I don’t- I-. We’re just friends. I don’t want to cause him any trouble. This will ruin his life.”

“He’s immortal and you’re moral enemies. Do you know what this will cause?”

“I don’t have feelings for him!” she yelled. She lied.

“Look at him.”

“What?”

“Look at him and tell me your heart doesn’t break at the sight of him starting a relationship. Then look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t have feelings for him.”

“I don’t-“ she did look to the Acropolis. She felt a lump in her throat and heavy pressure on her chest. Jack was politely talking to the goddess that stood in front of him. Both were smiling and then simultaneously started laughing, he must have said something funny. Was this jealousy that she was feeling? It couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be. She looked back at Eros who was waiting for her answer. He knew better. He knew how and what people felt. He saw what _she_ felt. It stayed silent for several seconds. Merida couldn’t get a word out.

“That’s it. I’m shooting.” Eros lifted his bow back up. With one nice clean shot he hit his target. Jack didn’t seem to feel it and awkwardly scratched the place where the arrow had hit him.

Merida glared at him. She never felt this furious. “Was that necessary?”

“Yes. I did you a favour.”

Merida grunted and turned her back to the sight of the Acropolis.

“I’m sorry my arrow hit you.” Eros laid his hand on her shoulder.

Merida pulled herself away from him. “It did nothing.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Leave me alone, Eros.”

“Meri?”

“Leave me alone.” She heard faint noises of wings flapping and then silence. It took a while before she could breathe again. She refused to look back at the Acropolis. After all this time, she just now figured it out what was the pressure on her chest, that had been there for weeks. She realized her cheeks were wet and quickly whipped them dry.

She still had to return the bag. She took it from her shoulder and inspected it. His journals were in there. Curiosity won, she opened the bag.

* * *

 

 

  The river goddess was beautiful. She had admirable brown locks intertwined  with three branches and leafs. Her eyes were grey but contained a sort of beam when the topic of nature came to pass. In all ways, this woman was beautiful. She was immortal, but never did she seem to carry her age. Even better, she wasn’t a stuck up princess. But she wasn’t…she wasn’t Merida. She wasn’t fierce, courageous, arrogant nor daring. Merida was all of this plus he could never get his eyes off her. 

“It would be nice meeting you again.” He continued. “But I need to go now.”

The goddess nodded enthusiastically. “Okay.”

Jack nodded and ignored the flaming glare of his mother. He was leaving too soon but he had left Merida alone for way too long. Who knows what could have happened?

The house was empty. “Faex!”

Jack looked over his shoulder at Hermes. The god flew a few inches above ground playing with his sceptre. “Well, she’s gone.”

“You think?” He took a heavy breath and realized his bag wasn’t with him. “Oh no, Hermes you need to find her.”

“Why me?”

“Because it’s your fault she’s gone. You’re faster than me.”

The god sighed and flew off without a word.

* * *

 

It didn’t take long. Hermes led Jack to a pathway towards the woods. The god was immediately yelled at by the Spartan. Merida was furious. The winged god threw one short glance and Jack and then flew off. Merida’s glare fixed on Jack, he immediately felt himself taking a step back. Why did she scare him all of the sudden?

“Mer, what’s wrong?”

She wasn’t angry about this morning. No, this was far worse. He’d never seen her so angry.

“You lied to me.”

Jack frowned and tried to close the distance between him and his friend.

Merida raised the journal about the god of war. “She’s as aggressive and impulsive like her father. Unusual for someone who is AFRAID OF THUNDER?!” she yelled.

She had read the journal. Jack froze. His nerves shot down. What should he say? “You read my journal?”

“You lied to me. You said you wouldn’t write about it!” Her voice grew louder and darker than he had ever heard.

“Merida, you’re scaring me. Please, calm down.” He tried carefully stepping closer but she stopped him holding her hand up.

“That’s what it was all about, wasn’t it? You lied to me to get information. You wrote it all down!”

“No, Mer-I-just listen. You didn’t read it all.” She didn’t read the whole chapter. Or else her reaction would have been different. She would have been disgusted but not angry.

“No, you Athenians are all the same.”

“Excuse me?! You’re the one jumping to conclusions!”

“Oh right, because I’m the one judging the other here.” She opened the book to show him the horrific drawing of the Daughter of Ares. It almost looked like a gorgon. “Because clearly this is the truth to you.”

She must have stopped there or else she would’ve seen his drawing, his notes about her. ~~His feelings towards her.~~ “Please, Merida. Read the whole thing through. You don’t know the truth.”

“No, you promised me something and you didn’t keep it. You Athenians are despicable, you know that?”

“Would you stop talking like that?!” He yelled. That was it, the frustrations came out. Jack’s anger increased with each word she spoke.

“Like what?” her words tasted bitter but she couldn’t keep herself calm anymore. This was betrayal.

“Like a Spartan!” Why did he say that? Why wasn’t he thinking? Why didn’t he think about it before saying it out loud?

Her demeanour was threatening, even sinister. His comment had unleashed something bad. Her hand lit up in flames and burned the book.

Jack screamed. “Merida, don’t!”

It was too late, the book caught fire. Jack didn’t even take his staff, without hesitation he shot an ice blast to blow the book out of her hands. The journal, completely black with ashes, landed on the ground with a thud. “Why did you do that?”

Merida gasped and looked at her hand hissing because of the contact of fire and ice. She quickly took her bow and arrow and aimed it at Jack. He had few steps closer with his staff raised towards her.

“I thought you wouldn’t hurt me.” She asked doubting. The string of her bow pulled back.

“I wish I could say the same.” Jack’s expression saddened. His still kept a firm grip on his staff pointed towards the enemy. His heart ached but he couldn’t do anything else. She burned it. She didn’t listen to him. She didn’t let him explain She was just as short-tempered as the other Spartans, just as hateful. This wasn’t a somewhat love he felt for her. This was hatred, just as in the beginning. She had been nothing but a Spartan and he wished he had seen it sooner.

“Merida, leave.”

Her hand on the bow seemed to tremble. She let out a shaky breath. Here they were; friends pointing their weapons at each other. “Jack…”

“Leave!” He ordered her. His tone was dark, his expression filled with sadness and frustration. He didn’t want to hurt her but he couldn’t look at her anymore. It only angered him.

Merida lowered her bow and turned her back to start running.

Jack dropped his staff and grunted frustrated. “And DON’T COME BACK!” He yelled as loud as he could.

She had disappeared into the woods. Jack’s heart was racing, his blood was boiling. He couldn’t catch his breath, he couldn’t think. He just felt anger and sadness. Why did he have to lose a friend like this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the drama, but this isn't the last you'll hear of them


	9. Make sure to keep my distance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will they lay down their differences?   
> idk   
> probably XD  
> but not now

Merida couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t comprehend what she had done. She burned it. She felt so angry about the drawing and the commentary on her powers, she just felt enraged. How could he write those things down? The Spartan closed her eyes and groaned. Merida paced hours and eventually jumped from a knock on her door. If that son of an Athenian bitch thought he could come knocking at her door again, he was going to regret it. She angrily opened the door to find her brothers standing outside. Her eyes must’ve still been red because Deimos immediately grabbed her by her shoulders to inspect her.

“Sis, what happened?”

“Nothing.” she lied.

“Your eyes are red.”

“You two have been gone for months and you complain about my eyes?” she had to change the topic. Even without Jack, her brothers were always hassling her if any boys were bothering her or if she had a crush yet. They didn’t want their little sister getting hurt or anything in that matter. Only, Merida was pretty sure her father did enough to avoid that.

“Alright, fine.” Deimos let go of her and entered her house with his brother.

Phobos followed his brother inside and greeted his sister with a warm hug. “Dad called us for the meeting on Olympus. Are you coming with us?”

“I don’t know.” She crossed her arms. There was a chance that she would bump into him. She wasn’t really yearning to see Jack again after what she had done. She wondered how in the underworld she had put up with Jack for the past weeks. No surprise it ended like this. The two constantly broke out in little fights and Jack was mostly the person to set aside his ego and apologize. Was it always his fault? To be honest, not really. But Jack knew her well enough that she would stay stubborn for days.  

“You haven’t been there for ages." Her brother insisted. 

“Because I don’t like the Olympus.” She objected. 

“But you like the food.” Phobos suggested.

Merida chuckled. “You’re right,.. fine...but I’m only going because of the food, then I’m leaving.”

“Good, enough.” Deimos agreed. Deimos himself wasn’t really a fan of the gods but he gladly stood at the side of his father when discussions came to pass.

“Guys, can you leave me alone for the night. I had a rough day.” Her brothers awed her. Deimos shrugged and patted her shoulder before he left. Phobos, on the other hand, gave her one more big hug. Merida sighed and melted completely in his embrace. Finally, something familiar.

“Dad is furious at you for not coming home yesterday. You better have a good excuse for him tomorrow.” He suddenly whispered in her ear.

The demigoddess froze and kept herself from screaming. Things couldn’t get any worse.

* * *

 

 

Jack dropped the mess on Hicc’s table. “You were right.”

The student frowned at the burned book. From the sight of it, not many notes or drawings were left or even possible of saving. “What happened?” This was one of his journals. Jack would march into war to protect one of his journals, they meant the same to him what a manuscript meant to a writer. Very valuable and impossible to rewrite.

“You were right. I was stupid to trust her.”

“She did this?”

“She read the first pages and didn’t even mind reading the rest. She immediately burned it in front of me.”

Hicc let out a huff. “Spartans.” Hicc let it slide when Jack came to him with burn marks. Jack had been through worse. The demigod had defended his friend by saying she probably didn't intend to use her powers. Because she panicked, her powers were the first thing she used to protect herself. If Jack hadn't had his staff, a lot of things would have been frozen over. 

“I guess.” Jack sighed. He had been fretting about this for hours but eventually gave up. Merida never gave him time to explain, nor found out his last thoughts on her. He couldn’t figure out if he felt frustrated or relieved. He now also came to the conclusion that his dream from earlier wasn’t a dream, it was a warning. Merida was dangerous and he should’ve realized that sooner.

“Are you okay?”

“I pointed my staff at her…” he ended his story after he had told the whole thing to Hicc. Jack was incredibly confused about how this day had started and how it had ended.

“What were you going to do if she didn’t leave?”

“I wasn’t going to hurt her, that’s for sure. I don’t know. I was angry.”

“Understandable. Look at it this way, you don’t have to deal with her anymore.”

Jack rubbed his eyes and let out another groan. “I guess, I don’t know if I should be happy about that.” He was very tired and wanted to go home to yell in his cushions.

He left the journal with Hicc. Maybe he could make something out of it. Jack didn’t even mind flying home. He wanted the walk the whole way, to set things straight. After two hours he reached his house, still puzzled and nothing figured out yet. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

 

 

Jack mostly stayed in owl form. He wasn’t allowed to talk to gods, especially on the Olympus. His mother didn’t bring him much to gatherings with immortals. If she did, Jack tried to talk as much as possible to any god before his mother noticed his absence. Well, each one except Ares. For his own reasons, Jack didn’t want to set a foot near him. nor his children. Merida wasn’t the first he’d encountered. Oh no, he knew Deimos and Phobos. They even tried to kill him before using an arrow dipped in hydra’s blood. Jack had laid in bed for weeks with high fever and black-outs. Up until that point, he considered everyone from Sparta dangerous and killing. He wanted to prove that wrong with Merida, but what she did, was confirming his theory.

 _They’re all the same. Out to kill me._  For once, he was allowed in human form. For what other reason than to talk to the river goddess his mother had introduced him to. The goddess already had her hands wrapped around his right arm. Although she was quite the company, something felt off and Jack couldn’t lay his finger on it.

The demigod had already thrown a glare in the way of Eros. Jack continued staying at the side of his mother and his new acquaintance. His mother was talking to Poseidon when Jack suddenly recognized the bright red curls standing next to her brothers.  _Damn it, why is she here?_ Not only that but she looked amazing. She left her full armour at home. She wore a silk red dress and her girdle. _Did she actually comb her hair for once?_  

He forced himself to look the other way but in time received a glimpse of her glance. He felt her stare burning on his back. Should he talk to her?

He felt the goddess pull his arm. He looked down at her. “What is it?”

“Look at how beautiful she is.” She jumped excitedly pointing at Aphrodite.

Jack swallowed awkwardly. He didn’t agree with Eros on many points. So how would it go with his mother? Jack observed the goddess. She was beautiful as always, since forever really. Her belt was the reason of her power, created by her husband Hephaistos. One of those powers was creating her own immortal beauty. Although gods saw her original appearance, mortals saw what they found most admirable. It took seconds before Jack realized he wasn’t looking at her original form when he noticed the blue eyes, the somewhat rosy skin, the red hair and the stunning curves. _Why is it everywhere I look, I see her?_

He mumbled out a curse and tried looking the other way.

“Something wrong?” the goddess at his arm asked with her sweet voice.

Jack shook his head. “Nothing.” He smiled down at her to assure her. “You look pretty today by the way.” He complimented her.

Her eyes beamed. She hugged his arm even tighter. Jack felt the urge to pull his arm out of her grip but pushed it to the back of his mind together with his worries about Merida.

He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. Artemis abruptly pulled him towards her. Her brown-green eyes pierced through him. “What are you doing?!”

“Your grace.” Jack wanted to bow but she stopped him and threw him an annoyed look.

“Shut it, birdy.” The Goddess of Hunt halted him. She threw a polite glance at the goddess around his arm. “Sweetie, can I borrow him for a second?”

 “Sure.” She politely bowed to the goddess and skipped the other way.

“Well, she’s cute.” Artemis commented.

Jack raised an eyebrow as he watched the goddess frolic away. “I guess so.”

“You don’t do cuteness, Jack.” Artemis grabbed him by his shoulders. “What happened to you two?”

“To wh-?”

“You and Merida. I thought you two were buds?”

“You knew?”

“Why do you think I helped you find her?”

“Well, do you expect me to thank you?”

“What is the matter with you?”

“She burned one of my journals and then threatened to kill me. So no, we’re not best buddies.”

“Did you say anything wrong to her?”

“Why does that matter to you?”

“Because I’m the one that brought you to her and I’m willing to protect that little girl from anything.” Artemis’ eyes fired at him. Her grip on his shoulders was too tight, Jack couldn’t back away.

“Again, I didn’t do anything.”

“You should talk to her.”

“Why? She’s not going to listen to me.” She never listened to him.

“At least try.”

“Why do you-“

“Jack.” The demigod flinched at hearing the cold voice of his mother. “Come.”

Jack looked back at Artemis, politely bowed and headed back to his mother. Artemis threw him a disappointed look and then shifted it to Athena. She never liked the fellow goddess.

On his way, Jack bumped into no one other than Deimos who immediately threw him a disgusting glare. “Watch where you’re walking.”

“How about you watch your mouth.” They were on the Olympus, Deimos couldn’t possibly hurt him. He was Athena’s son.

“Excuse me?” The large Spartan went to stand in front of him. Jack tried to make himself big. Deimos wasn’t going to intimidate him.

“Apology accepted.” Jack grinned cockily. Deimos couldn’t do anything. If anything, Jack had the upper hand.

“You slimy son of a-“

“Deimos!” Merida grabbed her brother’s arm before he could hit the demigod. Her eyes flickered to Jack. “What’s wrong with you?!” she yelled at him.

 _Why does everybody keep asking me that?_  “Look, I’m not the Spartan with the big mouth here!”

“At least we Spartans don’t try to break your privacy.”

 _Says the Spartan who had the idea of breaking and entering._ “We Athenians at least tell the truth to our friends and don’t attack the other without letting them explain!” Jack raised his voice. This was his blood talking but he couldn’t help it. He wasn’t on the wrong side here. She read his personal journal without asking.

“Oh yeah, just as you told me about your immortality.”

Jack felt his heart stop. How did she know about that? “H-how-?”

She gave him a dirty look, rushed closer to him and started whispering. "If I were you, I would keep that pretty mouth shut or do we want your new friend to know you're afraid of water."

_You would not._

Her brother wrapped an arm around her. “Our sister has nothing to do with you.”

“Fine by me.” Jack sneered.

He turned his back on them and stormed back to his mother and the river goddess. He took the little goddess’s hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. She smiled with glee. Jack ignored the gazes set on him and stayed with his mother for the rest of the gathering. The river goddess pecked him a kiss on his cheek. Jack had to hold back the urge to wipe his cheek clean but fought it back. It was cold and wet. It felt strange and not in a good way.

He received a rather strange look from his mother. She wasn’t angry nor proud, just confused. Jack ignored it the best he could.

* * *

 

 

Merida found herself unable to look away from him. Did Eros’ arrow really work on him? Was the previous arrow finally working on her? Well, faex! So this is how jealousy felt. _Good for him, he found someone who was immortal as well!_ She could almost gag, she wanted to strangle the goddess hanging around his arms. A river goddess for crying out loud! The guy was afraid of water. What were they going to do? That goddess couldn’t continue long before returning to the river she belonged to. And what would Jack do if she did?

And why in Ares’ name was she fretting about this?

She rubbed the bare skin of her shoulders and sighed. She felt naked without her armour. Just in time she found the gaze of Artemis and hurried away from the company of her brothers. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”

Artemis had somehow becom some kind of a mother to her. Not only had she granted Merida half her powers, the goddess had kept an eye on her ever since. Merida had learned archery from her. All her knowledge about her powers or even Artemis’ powers came from the goddess. She was practically raised by her. Merida knew she would get the right advice from her.

She received a grim look from the goddess. “Do you ever wonder why gods like your dad and me stay around other gods and not mortals?”

“What are you-?” Where was she coming from all of the sudden?

“Because we hate to see our friends grow old and die while we stay young. It’s torture; that’s why we prefer demigods and other immortal creatures.”

Why was she telling her this? “I didn’t know, I-“

“Think about that over before you go judging your friends for wanting to have fun with you instead of worrying about who will die first.”

“Artemis,-!”

“You know what I’m talking about, Merida.”

* * *

 

 

Jack planned to change into his animal form when one last god stopped him for a chat. It was Aphrodite herself. Jack bit his lip and tried his best to look past the appearance she was wearing. She smiled foxily when she noticed he was nervous around her.

“I know what I look like when a mortal or a demigod looks at me.” She said plainly.

“Uh-uhm, I don’t know what you’re-“

“Be careful with your heart, Jack.” She smiled once more and then returned to her former occasions.

Jack quickly backed away, waved the river goddess goodbye and left the Olympus in a hurry.

* * *

 

 

She still had the cloak. Why did she keep the cloak? Merida sat on her bed staring at the blue piece of clothing hanging on a chair. She could burn it, be rid of it. For some reason, she didn’t want to.

She skipped practice. Her sword and arrows laid on her table. The demigoddess had to think. For once, she had to think without blindly acting. She sighed, dug her face in her hand and fretted about Artemis’ words for minutes. Hours.

 

**Two weeks ago**

“Stop stepping on my toes!” Jack laughed.

Merida leaned her head on his shoulder and couldn’t stop her glee. She could barely breathe because of the laughter. “I told you, I don’t dance, I can’t.”

“Patience, my lady.” He took her hand, twirled her around and stopped to lean the back of his hand to hers in mid-air. “I’m not a dancer either, but you’ll learn.” Although he lacked regular communication with mortals and immortals. Jack started to see himself quite the wooer. _~~Not really though.~~ _  Whenever, he would try to ‘ _flirt’,_ with emphasis on the trying part, with Merida; it gave him some kind of confidence boost up until the point she started to notice something and so his anxiety and nervous stuttering returned. To be fair, he thought he handled his friendship with Merida very well. However, if it ever came to be that her father would find out, Jack would be dead. No doubt about it.

“Why are we doing this again?”

“We’re bored and it’s something else than learning each other how to point a weapon at the enemy.”

“I’m starting to prefer that.” She carefully followed his steps. She moved under his arm, made another turn and Jack eventually halted intertwining his finger with hers.

Jack had watched enough feasts, parties, plays, whatever you can imagine, involving dance. Never had he tried it. Either he had no partner, or he would just be pathetically dancing by himself. But he always wanted to try it. It seemed fun when mortals did it but Jack found it rather difficult and toe-hurting when he took his theory out into practice.

Merida looked wonderful. Jack heard a smaller voice speak to him from the back of his mind.

_Pull her closer._

He reduced the gap between them. He kept Merida’s hand in his and wrapped the other around her shoulders. He lifted their hands in the air, lifted her up and twirled her around. Merida yelped. Jack couldn’t hold the weight and lost strength in his right leg. He fell backward and instantly wrapped his arms around her to break her fall. Why did he think he could hold her weight?

“That was a bad idea!”

_“When are my ideas ever good?”_

Merida’s arms were wrapped around his neck. She was having a laughter attack once in a while interrupted by a snort and kept her forehead rested on his chest. Jack patted her back and let her laughter die out. After seconds, she pushed herself off him. She combed back her hair and shook her head at him.

“What?”

“Some strength you have.”

Jack wasn’t strong. His weather magic was his strength. He found himself smiling at her. Gods, she was incredible.

_Kiss her._

Jack wondered where the little voice came from? And why was it so strong all of the sudden? He often didn’t think when he was around her. Well, at least not very clear. He mostly rolled with the situation she brought him in. Wherever she took him, he followed. If they ever got into trouble, one of them would find a way out. The latter was mostly Jack.

He pushed himself up. It took him seconds before he collected the courage to lean closer. He lifted up her chin and looked her right in the eyes. He felt like he looked in the eyes of a predator. Vulnerable and in danger. If he made the wrong motion he would be done for. But she didn’t move. She stared back at him waiting for his next step. It was like she was daring him.

_Do it, you know you want to._

He never broke eye contact with her. Only, before he could make a move the horn sounded. Jack immediately grunted and dropped himself on the ground. 

“Jack?”

“Just go.” He chuckled. He couldn’t hold her back. She had to be home on time. They both stood up. Jack gave her the bow and took his own bag. Merida gave him one quick hug before she hurried off.

Jack sighed and listened to the wind for a while. It eased him. It helped him setting his thoughts straight. But all his mind was yelling was: _you let her go, you idiot!_  But it was better this way. If he’d gone through with it, it would either have two outcomes:

One, she would be startled but miraculously kiss him back and it would be the best day of his entire freaking immortal life!

Two, the more plausible one, she would push him back, yell, roar, attack and Jack would be either dead or hunted down by her father.

So in conclusion, it was better to run from these feelings.

* * *

 

 

Jack avoided his mother for days. Not only would she ask about his relation to the river goddess but also how he and Merida had fought on the Olympus as if they already knew each other. Of course, they knew each other, but his mother didn’t know that. And he would like to keep it that way.

Maybe Hicc had something to cheer him up. He headed towards the library to see if the student had found something interesting in the restricted area. Probably some scrolls worth looking at or else Jack would continue his routine and mess with some librarians or senators in the building.

The library was awfully quiet. It took very long for Jack to find his mortal friend. He found Hicc at the back of a hallway where he had first brought him to find a book about Ares.

“Hey, why are you all the way back here?”

Hicc jumped and almost dropped a few books. He looked startled, even nervous. “Jack!” He almost yelled. He leaned his hand on one of the shelves and almost tripped.

“Are you alright? It looks like you’ve been drinking or something.” Jack couldn’t know how it felt to be drunk. He’d never been drunk and wasn’t intending to be in the future. He tried his best to stay away from wine, or rum or any of that kind. But right now Hicc just acted ridiculous.

“No! I just-uh- wasn’t expecting you here.”

“I thought we decided to meet up at this place each week?” Jack frowned. What was the matter with him? Despite Hicc’s nervous behaviour in the beginning of their friendship, he never acted like this.

Hicc suddenly coughed and mumbled a few unrecognisable words after something had seemed to hit him behind his back.

“Ah!- Yes, we did. But I-uh, was doing some research on my own.”

Jack raised an eyebrow.

“Mmmh-uh-D-Dragons.” Hicc laughed nervously.

“So, this is a wrong time to stop by?”

“Gah, sort off.” Hicc rubbed his back as if something had kicked him.

“Alright, fine.” Jack shook his head. Hicc was acting weird. He wanted to leave when his friend called out to him.

“Do you still worry about her?”

 _Every minute of the day._ “No.” he lied.

 

* * *

 

 

So now he avoided three people. His mother. The river goddess. And the Spartan. And the only person he could talk to was now avoiding him. _Great Jack, you have zero friends right now. good job, buddy!_

He couldn’t do much right now. Either he was called in for a job from his mother or he had to attend a gathering but since he had committed to his promise regarding the river goddess, his mother had left him alone the last few days.  _That is suspicious. Should I worry about it? What is my mother up to?_

Okay, now he was just being ridiculously paranoid. His mother was always up to something.

After some wandering, the demigod found himself in the heart of the city. It wasn’t vibrant as it often was. He noticed a citizen once in a while but it remained rather quiet. He sighed. He had no idea what to do. By this time of the day, he was mostly with Merida but that wasn’t an option.

Jack suddenly remarked small whimpers and followed the sound until he found a small girl about the age of seven crying on a bench. He sighed and bit his lip. Poor thing.

The child looked up and squinted its drained red eyes as if trying to make something out of him.

The demigod frowned and tilted his head. “You can see me?”

She nodded silently.

All the better. He could help. He kneeled in front of her and held his staff in his right hand. “What’s wrong?”

If she could see him, it meant she believed in him. Well, in some way probably. Knowing weather irregularities were caused by him and other gods. But she didn’t seem to think of him as the powerful demigod of Athena. Just as a spirit. He didn’t mind it. As long as he could talk to someone, his heart would feel a little bit lighter.

“They’re bullying me.” She sniffed.

“Aw, what are they doing?”

“I can’t play with them, just because I’m a _girl_.” With an angry huff, she folded her arms and pouted.

“Point them out for me.” If it was one thing Jack hated seeing in his 300 years of experience, it was that some kids were always excluded from games for being either the other gender, too small, too big, too old or too young. To Jack, none of all those things mattered when someone wanted to have fun.

She seemed to hesitate. Probably because children were often taught not to go along with strangers. However, Jack felt he wasn’t a stranger to her. She believed in him, thus he wasn’t a total stranger. He reached out his hand to her. It didn’t take long before she grabbed it and he quietly followed her until they caught a little group of playing boys in their sight. 

Jack often felt frustrated when dealing with countries or cities in conflict. Or when two gods couldn’t get along or when he had to deal with groups of politicians. But this? This made his blood boil. Such a little problem really pushed his buttons. He couldn’t help it.  He felt kids needed him more than grownups. Adults could figure it out themselves. Children couldn’t. They needed a helping hand.

“I have a plan.” Jack bent through his knees until he reduced his height to that of the girl. “You can be a demigod for the day. You know Herakles?”

His question excited her. The girl jumped and nodded her head enthusiastically.

“We’re going to throw snow at them.”

The girl looked confused as if she did not understand the concept of snow. The little group of boys seemed to notice them. Well, correct that. They noticed the girl. Ironically they didn’t seem to notice Jack.

All the better, this fitted his plan perfectly.

* * *

 

 

Hicc rushed out of the library with a bunch of books stacked atop of each other. His acquaintance followed him down the stairs with another stack of books, the cap of their blue cloak pulled over their head. The student stopped and felt his eyes twitch when he noticed the demigod in the distance. Would he notice him?

Running before him was a small group of boys yelling, screaming. They were drenched in water. They sprinted by Hicc and his fellow associate. Crying words about a nymph or an angry goddess. Following after them was a small girl with brown hair yelling: “Fear me!” running with snowballs in her hands. Followed by a small snow breeze and Jack trying to catch up with her. Waving his staff to create ice cold snow waves sequencing the group of boys, leaving behind an icy slide behind him. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Hicc huffed and quickly walked the other way.

* * *

 

 

After a long day of sweet revenge, Jack had dropped the girl at her home safely. Her parents wondering why her hair was full of snow. Apollo was carrying his chariot slowly across the sky, meaning the sun was slowly making its place for the moon. Near the end of the evening, Jack would only do a few things. Either he would plunge into bed or he would climb on top of his roof and watch the moon surrounded by the stars forged by the gods. He often found it a wonderful spectacle but he was too tired. He would fall asleep on the roof. Not that it hadn’t happened before.

He heard a soft knock on his door and dragged himself to the front of his house to open it. Of all people, Hicc was the person he least expected to stand at his door opening. The only people who knew where he lived were some gods, some senators, and surprisingly Merida because she followed him home once to get him back for a prank he pulled on her. The student couldn’t possibly know that Jack was the one living in this gigantic villa.

He frowned and studied his pale freckled friend. “Why are you here?”

“I-I got some books for you to look at.” His friend tried to fake a smile but Jack saw right through him.

However, he could use the company so he decided not to question it. He opened the door for Hicc to walk inside but his friend resided outside. “You can come in now.” Jack assured him.

“I-uh- I want to stretch my legs first.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. _What now?_

“Can you get something for me to drink? It took quite a long walk for me to get here.”

Jack shrugged. He never had anyone enter his house before but when it came that far Jack would be a polite host. He left his friend standing at the opening and walked off to his kitchen. “Wine?”

“That’s fine.”

Jack heard some strange rumbling from his main hall. His villa, however big, was quite simple. You entered a great hall and you either had the choice to walk straight and enter the garden, go to the back on the left and find his kitchen, on the right all the way back was his sort of bathing room (like he ever used it), and straight next to the hall was his large bedroom and secret hidden stash of books about the Olympian and non-Olympian gods. He never wanted anyone besides himself to enter that secret library, not even Hicc or his mother. So it was normal the strange sounds worried him, it was as if Hicc was rambling to somebody who wasn’t Jack.

Jack mixed the fruity wine with lots of water, plenty of water and rushed back to his main hall filled with couches, cushions and a little pool to find Hicc sort of startled.

“You know I live here, right?” What was the matter with him?

His friend was standing way to close to the entrance of his library. Hicc’s gaze seems to drift to the door and then back to Jack.

 _Oh in the underworld no_! He was not getting in there.

His friend suddenly took his hand and dragged him to the other side of the great hall until they reached the back of his villa.

“What’ s wrong with you? You’ve been acting strange all week!” Jack violently pulled his hand back.

“You’re not telling me something.” Hicc took the cup out of his hand and took a major sip. He almost choked but swallowed the alcoholic liquid.

“Oh I’m the one not telling the other something?”

“Yes!’ His friend answered stubborn. ”Like,… at first, I thought I was imagining things. But then you started to talk about her way too much, and then the arrows came, and you two fighting, the burns. Like what in the freaking underworld! DUDE, you’re in love with a Spartan!” Hicc hissed at him. It was like he tried not to yell as if someone else than Jack would hear him. But every word he spitt at Jack felt venomous. “A…freaking…Spartan.” He repeated.

Jack folded his arms. “You _are_ imagining things, Hicc. First, no. I am not in love with her, nor have I been.” He lied. “Second, I don’t…know…what it feels like.” He narrowed his eyes down to the ground.

His friend let out a huff. “You’re joking, you’ve lived for centuries and you’ve never fallen in love before?”

Jack avoided his gaze and looked outside his house. So what if he hadn’t. It wasn’t as if it was some sort of survival thing, something he would need in the future. He could just continue following his mother’s orders and eventually marry the river goddess. Like love had anything to do with it. It wasn’t that important. It wasn’t life-saving. He would just stay like this for his immortal life. _Yep, forever. If I die it’s going to be a cold and lonely death, isn’t it?_

Even his mother told him for hundreds of years, it was better to be alone because that way you wouldn't get hurt. But Jack wanted to feel how it hurt. He wanted to experience such emotions. 

“Faex, you’re serious?”

“Anything else, Hicc?” Jack cut him off.

“Jack, seriously. That’s something you need to feel once in a while.”

“No, I don’t. It’s not like anyone ever felt that way about me! Feelings like that are unnecessary.”

“But they are necessary. It’s part of being human.”

“I am not an ordinary human, Hicc!”

“You don’t ever want to feel it?”

Jack sighed. All he tried in his 300 years was trying to be like mortals but every time he got close to human emotions, his mother pulled the chains on him and he was back to square one. To be honest, he wanted to know. He wanted to feel more. But he just wasn’t allowed to. It wasn’t possible so why try?

“I do.” He whispered.

“Well, how are things going with the goddess you told me about?”

Jack instantly shook his head. “It doesn’t feel right.”

“How so? What or how do you feel?” His friend tried to help.

“Out of place.”

The student frowned.

“It doesn’t feel like I belong. I don’t know, Hicc. Whenever she’s close to me. I just want to walk away. When she hugs me, I just want to push her off.” He let his arms hang loose. “It’s not like my mother is going to give me another choice.”

His friend seemed to take that into account. “I get that but how about you pull a ‘Zeus’?” _Have an affair._

“I don’t think I want to anger a river goddess.” Considering he was afraid to drown.

He nodded. “Okay, don’t be angry at me for asking. But how did you feel when you were around Merida?”

“I-uh.” Jack was taken aback and had to think a while before he could find something that sounded somewhat logical. “Warm.”

“Warm?”

“Yes, warmth. I usually don’t feel temperature differences or I usually prefer the cold. Only, when I was with her I felt this kind of warm feeling in my chest, eventually in my whole body. It was pleasant at first. It really confused me. But after a while I started to notice it wasn’t warm, it was hot. Like flaming hot. Dangerously hot.” He bit his lip. “I should’ve realized she was dangerous when she burned me but I was just so-“ _Confused? Nervous? Bewildered?_

“Blind?”

Jack nodded.

“I feel like you’re holding something back.”

It was now Hicc who saw right through him. Jack sighed. He could tell the truth to him, right?

“Jack?” Hicc urged him.

The demigod looked away again. He refused to answer. It was embarrassing.

“Demigod of wisdom! Just answer me!”

“I wanted to kiss her! On a regular basis, I wanted to bloody kiss her! Like actual passionate kissing like mortals do. Now happy?!” Jack yelled.

Hicc covered Jack’s mouth and threw a short glance over his shoulder. “Not so loud.” He slowly let go.

Jack smacked his lips and tried to get the disgusting taste of his friend’s hand out of his mouth. “What in the underworld-?”

“I just have a headache.” Hicc looked back at him.

Okay, now that was a lie. But Jack rolled with it. It was too late for this. And he didn’t really like talking about his feelings for Merida.

“Maybe the fact you wanted to _kiss…_ ” Hicc instantly shivered at the thought. “… _her,_  kind of … sort of means you had a crush on her.” He suggested.

Jack found his expression darken. “I made hundreds of drawings of her to put one drawing in my journal. Her eyes are graved in my mind and you _think_  I have a crush?”

“Have?”

“What?” Jack frowned.

“You said ‘have’. You’re still crushing on her?”

“No.” _Lie._

“So if I were to tell you, you a chance to see her again; would you take it?”

“No!” _Big lie._

Their discussion was suddenly interrupted by a loud thud. Jack grabbed his staff and wanted to run to the front of his house when his friend stopped him.

“That’s probably an animal or the wind.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. Everything Hicc was saying to him sounded like clear bullshit.

“I’ve got to go but…” He grabbed Jack by the shoulders. Although the student was a head smaller than Jack, his confidence at the moment made Jack feel inferior. “I think you should tell her.”

“Hicc, I told you. I’m not-“

“Really? Because the way I see it, you’re crazy about her. And it hasn’t stopped.” He stopped the demigod before he could object. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise. Just try and hide it from your mother.”

It was useless to convince the mortal otherwise. He felt himself without solutions or any way out. He silently nodded and let Hicc go. He didn’t mind walking him out. All Jack needed right now was fresh air and a nap.

 

* * *

 

Hicc ran as fast as he could to the hidden library, pulled out Merida and rushed towards their exit. He pushed the Spartan outside and violently shut the door.

“What in the underworld?! Could you be any louder?!”

“You guys started screaming. I jumped!” Merida yelled back.

A sudden hint of fear filled the mortal’s eyes. “Did you hear what we were saying?” He could’ve revealed Jack’s secrets to her.

“All I heard were you two rambling about his mother. That is it.”

She seemed to tell the truth. Hicc sighed relieved and took the books out of Merida’s hands. “What did you find?”

Merida had suddenly stood at his door a week ago, wearing a blue Athenian cloak and aiming an arrow at Hicc’s head. First, he thought she wanted more arrows. But it turned out she regretted part of her actions and wanted to fix it. Since Jack was angry at her, she figured she could ask his friend for help. It had been one freaking death ride! Hicc didn’t want to work with the Spartan at all. He urged her to go to Jack herself and leave him out of it. She insisted. And with insisted he meant, shooting an arrow right next to him and promising the next one would be right between his eyes. So they started the journal from scratch. Hicc had explained the gorgon drawing had come from a book he’d introduced to Jack. That he wanted the drawing for an example what was wrong with the image they tried to paint of the demigoddess.

He tried defending Jack by implying she should have read the whole thing through but that only angered her. Their trips to the library were even worse. Merida was terrible to coop with. Any information Hicc found about her father, made her only more irritated about the whole thing. But eventually, he convinced her to give her own part of the story. Her own perspective on the god. that did work with the Spartan. However, trying to keep their collaboration a secret from Jack was horrible. He almost saw her in the library and Hicc had to quickly cover their situation with excuses and terrible acting. The only thing he’d gotten from the whole experience were bruises from Merida constantly hitting him when he defended Jack on his part or commented on the weird friendship the two had. Apparently, it wasn’t a topic Merida liked to address.

The books Merida now had sneaked out of his library were the final touch and the journal would be finished. It wouldn’t be the same. Only, Merida hoped it would suffice as an apology for her behaviour.

“How long have you known he was immortal?”

“The entire population of Athens knows. I’m sorry, Merida. But we all knew. I was surprised he didn’t tell you.”

“I guess, it didn’t occur to him.”

They headed on their way back to Hicc’s home where they finished the final pages of the journal. Writing it all down meant that Merida had to share some unknown information with the Athenian mortal. But as of now, she really wanted to fix her mistake.

“Can I ask you something?” Hicc was binding the pages into a leather book.

Merida had her arms folded and glared at him. She didn’t hate the mortal, she just preferred the company of Jack. “What?”

“You’re going through all of this trouble to fix this. You could’ve just said you’re sorry.” _It's sometimes so hard for a Spartan to swallow their pride._

“That’s not going to cut it. And I wanted to save him the trouble.”

“And the real reason?”

“Do you ever shut up?!” she sneered him.

Hicc dropped his hands on the table and threw her an annoyed look at her. “Do you want my help or not?”

Merida mumbled something and grunted. “I miss the idiot.” Since the whole drama, her days in Sparta had been boring. Just plain boring. Her brothers were mainly coping with her father. She didn’t want to talk to Eros. It left Merida with nothing. Her trainings were starting to be boring with no one to spar with like she did with the demigod. Her hunts were … well, you guessed it… boring.

“Can I be honest?”

“When are you not?” she groaned irritated. All the mortal did was pushing the painful truth in her face.

_You were wrong, t_

_his is your fault._

_You want to see him, go see him._

 

It wasn’t that easy.

“Include that in your apology. Tell him you missed him.”

Merida for once let out a small laugh. “I am not going to pet his ego.”

“Merida, Jack has things he has to tell you as well. I’m not going to be the person giving you that information but when the time comes, both of you will have to be honest for once. “

She nodded but still didn’t seem convinced.

“I do agree with you about rewriting this thing.” Hicc smiled at her.

“You think he’ll appreciate it?”

“I think he will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it took a while, I know  
> 20 people now, oopf   
> Chapter 10 is on the way, meanwhile, let me know what you guys think up til now ;)


	10. You fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're back. (back again)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry. *crawls on her knees* please accept this little chapter on V-day  
> I know I haven't updated in a while  
> but..  
> that can change

Her river wasn’t far from Athens. Perhaps that’s why she was such a good contestant to his mother. It was always preferable when a god was on your side. You would not want to be on the bad side of a goddess of something as a river. No human had survived without water. The goddess was almost 500 years old and had inherited the river from her father, it would have dried out if she hadn’t.

Jack couldn’t move. He was standing just inches from the water. In his right hand his staff, in his left hand his bag with a few journals and a bottle containing wine. According to his mother, he had to celebrate his engagement with the goddess but Jack insisted on not making it too big. He wasn’t really happy that his mother had already decided on the marriage but here he was staring at the water. Frozen.

Their marriage would be in a month. A month. On the Olympus for everyone to see. Jack swallowed the lump in his throat.

He didn’t even need to call her. It was as if the goddess smelled his fear. Her head appeared above the water. She smiled brightly when she noticed him at the edge of the water. It looked as if she was part of the blue horror. She slowly came out of the water as a drop of rain separating itself from a bigger drop. He couldn’t explain it otherwise. Her skin and silky hair blended perfectly into the water.

She giggled happily and immediately greeted him with a wet hug.

Jack cringed, closed his eyes and counted the long seconds it took for her to release him.

She let him go, laid her hand on his cheek and smiled up at him.

Jack felt horrible for not being able to look back her the way she did. Her eyes were filled with so much love and happiness but Jack just couldn’t get himself to smile back.

Her smile seemed to change into a concerned look. “You look tired.” Even concerned her voice sounded high pitched and joyful.

Of course, he was tired. Jack hadn’t slept for days. For some strange reason, Jack couldn’t stop thinking about the Spartan. She consumed his dreams, his thoughts during the day. He knew he was angry about their fight, but he was surprised when days later he still couldn’t put his mind to rest. It even scared him when at some point during the night he found his cheeks wet because of the tears. He was crying! Jack never cried. Was he this hurt because he lost a friend?

He had to think of something else. Thinking about Merida immediately made his heart ache. His feelings for her were much stronger than he thought, especially now that she was gone. But it was about to happen sometime, right? Snow and heat just didn’t match, and neither did Athenians and Spartans. Sharing the heritage of a demigod didn’t change the matter, it only slowed down the inevitable. They were meant to be opposites.

He had to push it to the back of his mind until he found the strength to erase it. Jack looked down and studied the goddess. He just now figured she had to be a descendant of both a god and a nymph. It would explain her beauty as well as her immortality.

This was it, wasn’t it? This was the person he would be stuck with for the rest of his life. She wasn’t bad company, not at all. But he wasn’t meant for her.

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to ask his mother to meet the goddess privately. He didn’t want any other gods or any people near them interfering. Too much pressure. Only, now he was alone with her and he had no idea what to do. His mother had told him to ignore his fear of water but he couldn’t just ignore it! On the other hand, the goddess sympathized more with his fear than the Athenian goddess. Well, at least a little. At the Olympus, he’d pulled her aside and nervously asked her if she was okay with him being afraid of drowning. It meant, he would never set foot in her river but the goddess just smiled, hugged him tightly and whispered that she was disappointed but that it wouldn’t stand in the way of their relationship. Guess she really liked him.

Jack’s heart had broken into a million pieces. She was incredibly sweet and understanding. And he? He had just been polite. Swallowing every sarcastic comment that had entered his mind and nodding at every word she said without even listening.

Again. He wasn’t meant for her.

She took his hand and went to sit with him at the edge of the water. He overlooked the surface of the water as he felt her hands running through his hair. _Oh, gods, what does she want with my hair?_   Jack wanted to run.

She was the complete embodiment of everything he knew about nymphs. Beautiful, joyful, but damn Zeus they could be lustful, just like their male opposites. (Satyrs.) He’d noticed it from day one. Perhaps the look on her face was kind, but he saw what hid behind her eyes. It was the same little feeling he caught himself with whenever he sat close to Merida. But with the river goddess, it was much worse.

“What did you bring?” she pointed at his bag.

Jack chuckled and pulled the bottle out from between his books. His mother had insisted one bringing it with him. The tag seemed familiar. But what caught his gaze was a new, smaller book with the name Ares on it. He stopped breathing and almost dropped the bottle of wine.

He pushed the bottle in her hands and took the book to inspect it. It was bound in leather and smaller than his usual journals. He impatiently opened it and noticed the different handwriting. Lots of notes were copied straight from his books from home or the Athenian libraries. He recognized a few from famous poets and authors. Even his extra drawings of the god were added to the collection. Whoever made this had access to his house. His first thought went to Hicc but he couldn’t possibly know some of the information that was written down here.

It contained information of Deimos and Phobos even Jack didn’t know. He let out a trembling breath when he came upon the chapter of the daughter of the God of War. It wasn’t one of his drawings, this was Hicc’s style. Nevertheless, it looked incredibly accurate. Almost everything that was written down he knew from Merida’s stories but he had never written them down. Her relation to her father, her brothers, the failed marriage proposal of a prince where she’d decided to interrupt his archery contest by winning it herself, her friendship with Artemis. He stopped at the last page where in small words was scribbled: ‘I’m sorry’. Jack almost teared up. His voice had disappeared.

“Are you okay?”

Jack briefly looked up at the goddess and immediately returned to awing the book. “I’m fine. Great actually.”

 She quickly lowered the book and even took it out of his hands to put it away in his bag together with the bottle. “Can you check that thing later? You’re with me.”

Jack didn’t dare to take it back and let her pull the book out of his hands. She turned to him, settled her hands next to both sides of his waist and leaned over him. Since when did she want his full attention? The goddess mostly preferred to play with his hair since it reminded her of snow which any mortal in Greece rarely saw.

The goddess didn’t seem to care about his personal space and inched close enough that he could feel her breathing on his skin. Jack felt himself turn to stone by her stare. What was she trying to do? _For the love of Athena, could she back up a little?_

“If you’re going to marry me, you’ll have to get used to this.”

“Get used to what?” He wanted to get out of here badly. But he feared the wrath of his mother more than what in the underworld was happening here. He felt her hand inching closer to his hand and her other hand crawling up his chest.

She smiled foxily. “This.” She whispered. She quickly pushed her lips on his and tightened her grip on his hand as to say he wasn’t allowed to leave.

Jack felt as if she sucked the air out of his lungs, but he couldn’t just violently push her away. Not only would he hurt her feelings, his mother would lecture him and things would only go downhill from there if their marriage were ever to continue. He had no choice. He had to kiss her back.

Right?

This was his first kiss! (without counting the short contact he had with Merida’s lips) Although he had no clue how to do it, he tried following the movement of the goddess’s lips. It felt so bland, so indifferent but he went with it. He kissed her back while every muscle in his body screamed to stop. From the moment, he kissed back she wrapped her arms around his neck. As a snake wrapping itself around its prey. Jack felt as if he had no way out. Even though his body was screaming to stop, his mind could only show one image. One pair of blue eyes. It was the thing that made him kiss her back.  The goddess slowly pulled back and hummed satisfied.

_Merida._

With the release of their lips, Jack couldn’t stop himself from whispering her name. Worst of all, the goddess heard him.

“Who?”

Jack felt himself getting scared. Why did he say her name out loud? Not that he hadn’t done it before. He sometimes caught himself mumbling it in his sleep but WHY IN THE UNDERWORLD DID HE SAY HER NAME OUT LOUD? HERE?!

 “I think I have to go.” At first, he worried Merida would welcome him with a fireball but now he was ready to face whatever Spartan wrath she would throw at him. He wanted to see her.

The goddess’ hand on his chest gripped the fabric. “Who is that?!” Her happy demeanour took place for jealousy and rage.

 _What in the underworld did I unleash?_  

“No one.” He lied. “You startled me so I mumbled some gibberish or something.” _Lie! You’ve done it before, do it again!_  

The beautiful daughter of a nymph took place for what looked like a demon, a fury. He’d angered her. “Then why do you need to leave?”

Not only to see his best friend but because he was starting to be more afraid of the goddess than he was of his mother. “I’ll be back in a few days, don’t worry. But I need to check something.” He forced himself to cup her face and kissed her shortly on the lips. She quickly pulled him closer before he could step back and deepened the kiss.

Jack wanted to scream but kept his act up. He took his bag and his staff, said his goodbye and ran off. As soon as he was out of sight he wiped the saliva off his lips. It felt as if he’d kissed wet plankton. It even tasted that way. Would he ever get the taste out of his mouth?

He changed into owl form and flew off into the woods.

* * *

 

 

Her brothers had just left her house. She didn’t know how Hicc did it but he’d managed to hide the new journal away in Jack’s bag. Even though she hoped she could talk things out with the Athenian, Merida wouldn’t be surprised if they stayed enemies as they were in the beginning.

It wasn’t entirely her fault but she admitted she played the bigger part of it. She dropped her bow near her other weapons and dropped herself on a small fancy couch she’d gotten from a rich princess as a birthday gift. She closed her eyes and let out a heavy breath.

After fretting about it for days, she understood her reaction derived from her frustrations with her feelings for him. Maybe she wouldn't have reacted the way she did if Eros hadn't popped up out of nowhere and made her realize what she had tried to shove back into the dark corners of her mind. Her empty thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock.

* * *

 

 

"Shut up!” Jack sneered Artemis as he felt her magical presence pressing on his shoulders. He had no idea why she was calling him in that way. Her magic buzzed in his ears. But all he wanted, was for this to be over. Artemis needed to back off. He was doing what she wanted, wasn’t he?

He heard footsteps and instantly felt himself stagger. The door opened.

Merida crossed her arms but couldn’t help but show a grin. “Fine, I deserve it. Yell at me. Give me all you have.”

_No fireballs. Lucky me._

Jack quickly felt his muscles relax. “I should’ve told you.”

She chuckled and shook her head not realizing Jack was closing in on her. She flinched when he cupped her face but found herself staring into his chilling blue eyes. “I don’t think it matters now. So you're immortal, big deal." She cried inside.  _It is a big deal._ "So, I’m ready for the lecture. Hit me.” She said nervously. _Why isn’t he yelling? Why isn’t he shoving it in my face that he was right?_

This wasn’t the time to let his Athenian blood do the talking. Merida had swallowed her Spartan pride to apologize before he could. Jack couldn’t be more impressed. “I’m just glad I get to see you without having my butt on fire.”

She let out a laugh and felt the urge to stand on her tiptoes to peck him a kiss. How would he react when it wasn’t his cheek but his lips? She found the courage to lean in but before she could exit her plan, he pulled her into a tight hug. Merida immediately erased the thoughts that were racing through her mind and hugged him back. It felt so strange to immediately lay down their weapons. However, his embrace felt so familiar. She never wanted to leave it and wondered why she yelled at him in the first place. She heard him sigh. She smiled and pushed her nose against his chest. “Did you like it?”

“It’s better than the original.” He chuckled. Where was the lie? He loved it. He’d been reading it over and over before gathering the courage to run to Sparta. He couldn’t help but adore the handwriting, the way Sparta was described. She even admitted to a few of his rude comments on their behaviour. Fully embracing her Spartan heritage.

She squeezed him in response to his compliment.

Jack stroked her hair and tried to delete from his mind everything that had happened with the river goddess. Should he tell Merida? He would have to explain why the goddess got incredibly irritated.

“Shouldn’t we be talking?”

“What is there to talk about? We both freaked and it got out of hand. I’m sorry too by the way.” They needed to talk. He needed to tell her things, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. He didn’t want to talk about it. All he wanted was to enjoy this short moment and return to their daily goofs.  

“You smell like a wet animal.” Merida pulled back and threw him a confused look. The realization struck her. “You’re going through with it?”

She was referring to the goddess. She must’ve figured the smell came from the water. Even if he brought the goddess to the Olympus, how could she possible know about the engagement? He frowned. 

“My brothers told me about the marriage.” She lied. Should she warn him about Eros’ arrow? Had it worked? “Well, are you?”

“With the goddess? Yes, I have to.”

“Do you want to?”

“No”. That came out faster than he wanted.

Of course, he didn’t want to, Merida figured. He and the goddess didn’t match. To be honest, Merida and Jack didn’t really match either but here she was again.

“How long did you work on this thing?” He tried to change the subject. Jack went to grab the little book out of his bag.

“A few days. ‘got help from your friend.”

“Hicc? Alright, that explains a lot. But HOW did you convince him to help you?” His friend wasn’t really a fan of Sparta.

Merida bit her lip.

“You threatened him, didn’t you?”

“He didn’t want to help-“

“Do you ever meet a person without pointing a weapon at them?”

“He got out alive!” She defended herself.

“Well, at least it explains the awkward behaviour and the bruises on his arms.” He felt bad for his friend but oddly found it funny. He would’ve loved to see how the two worked together; or at least tried to. He started laughing at the image of his two friends that popped up in his head. He shook his head. He couldn’t believe Merida actually ‘asked’ Hicc for help. His two friends working to together to cheer him up. Wonderful.

“I missed you.”

Jack felt his world stop. The wind, the sound of the animals in the woods, everything seemed to go silent. What did she say?

“Well, don’t flatter yourself!” She raised her voice when he looked at her with awe; an incredible big grin growing on his face. “You’re a complete idiot.” She folded her arms. “But a fun idiot.”

 _I wish I was your idiot._  He gave into the urge to hug her again. _Can I squeeze you to death?_ She happily hugged him back. Jack could die here right in her arms and he would still be happy. 

“I missed you too, Merida.” He dug his nose in her hair.

* * *

 

 

“Hit the head!”

“I’m trying.” Merida waited a few seconds before her arrow left her hand and hit the head of Athena drawn on a large piece of papyrus pinned against a tree.

“Yes!” Jack shouted.

Merida rushed up and pulled out the arrow. Until now she’d hit the head, the stomach, and the chest. She pinned up another drawing, this time one of Zeus. She wished she had one of the river goddess she’d seen on the Olympus so she could shoot an arrow through her head.

This time, Jack had his own fancy Athenian bow. Merida had marked it with the tip of an arrow to make the weapon a little more personal.

“Just aim at his chest.” She pointed towards the drawing and studied the demigod as he tried to pull back the string of his bow.

Jack kept his hand still but couldn’t figure out when he should release his arrow to hit his target. How in the underworld could Merida pierce through an arrow with another arrow? All Jack could hit was the ground next to the tree.

Merida inched closer and slightly pushed up the arrow until she was satisfied with the direction he was aiming at. “There we go.”

Jack instantly released it afraid that his hands would shake and change direction. He hit the crotch. Both demigods burst out into laughter. Jack sunk in the grass and grabbed his stomach, he couldn’t stop laughing.

That shot was too accurate. Too accurate for Zeus.

Merida hid her grin behind her hands and tried to stop her giggling.

Zeus’ popular reputation with mortals was far too known around gods, demigods and even mortals themselves. Almost every story told by mortals about Zeus started with his hormones and a mortal ending up giving birth a demigod.

Merida was grateful her father was Ares. Imagine what she would have looked like or what she could do if Zeus was her father?

“Perfect.” She managed to get out between her laughs.

Gods, had he missed this. “My first hit and I shoot his-mmhpf.” He could barely keep his laughter in.

“And you said you could never do it.”

“Not as good as you! You’re a natural.”

“Well, thank you.” She bowed and spread her arms wide.

“I wonder: who would win in archery? You or Eros?” Jack asked and he carefully attempted to pull the arrow out of the tree.

Merida froze at the name of the demigod of love. Her grip on her bow stiffened.

“Does he ever miss?” He asked putting the arrow back in her quiver.

“Eros can miss a target but his arrows always search for a being.” She answered trying to keep a straight face.

“So in other words even if he misses, someone gets hit?”

She nodded.

_Well, shit._

“Can I ask you something? Did he end up shooting me?” He went to sit in front of her and kept his eyes locked on hers. He wanted to know. Eros had threatened him with it. But if the time had come, wouldn’t Eros pop up and rub it in his face? Merida would know, she was the only one who spoke to the creature.

“W-why are you asking?”

“Just curious. He said he wanted to, didn’t he?”

His eyes did not move away from hers for a moment. Merida felt herself stuck. Not only did Eros want revenge on the Athenian, he got to do it under Athena’s order. If it hadn’t been for the first arrow, Merida would’ve rubbed it in his face that Eros got to shoot his arrow. But she’d been hit by the magic herself and that made things complicated.

“I don’t know if he has.” She lied. She was right there. Merida watched the arrow hitting its target. She was curious. Did it work? Scratch that, she was jealous. DID IT FREAKING WORK?  “Do you think he has?” she asked trying to keep her voice neutral.

“Who would I have to be in love with then?”

Merida shrugged. “T-the…goddess your mother hooked you up with?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’ve told you a few days ago, I don’t want to go through with the marriage. Even if he would shoot me right now, I know it wouldn’t work.”

‘ _Hooked up with’_ was the wrong choice of words. She was forcing him to marry a person he barely knew. Well, besides from the fact her lips tasted like bitter plankton.

“There’s no one else.” _There’s you! But let’s ignore the fact that you’re probably the only possible answer to my question._

“Then I guess he didn’t do it.” She smiled wryly. Oh, Eros released his arrows, alright! On both of them and Merida was the only one where the arrow had its effect. It had hit her. It hit her hard. She wasn’t a person to fall in love easily. She never wore her heart on her sleeve. But since Eros made it clear to her she did have developed feelings for the demigod, she couldn’t stop putting his irritating but sweet laugh out of her mind. It drove her insane.

“Or it didn’t work.” He cheered victoriously. “And I was right all along!”

_Gods, I hope so._

Jack lowered his arms and bit his lip. It still didn’t change things. He was still engaged. His feelings didn’t matter in this situation. Last weeks had been a wreck. Jack had felt so many emotions he’d never felt before at once and he had no idea how to coop with it. Yeah, international conflicts were fine. Any civil wars? Count him in! But dealing with his mixed feelings for Merida and his arranged marriage was a whole new level. Sparta could burn for all he wanted, but Merida was something he didn’t want to lose. He realized that soon enough. Athens, on the other hand, had to be protected, kept whole, and he could only do that if he followed his mother’s orders.

“How did your father do it?” His excitement had left him.

Merida noticed and laid down her bow. Guess practice was over. “Do what?”

“Being in love without someone for centuries not being able to be with them.”

“You mean Aphrodite?”

“Yeah, that huge romantic tragedy.” He chuckled. But there was no amusement in his voice. Everyone at one point had heard or told the myth about Aphrodite and Ares. Two lovers who weren’t meant to be with each other. Aphrodite was married to Hephaistos by her father and Ares was meant to live a lonely life as the god of War. They tried to love each other, but they got caught and were shown to the world as traitors.

“Well, marriage isn’t exactly about love in this time period, especially for gods. Dad and Aphrodite just ran with it and Hephaistos came in between.” Merida sat down next to him and collected the rest of her arrows in her quiver. “Every god is stuck to someone they don’t actually like but it’s the way it’s supposed to be, I guess.”

The only one allowed to have his way without any punishment was the King of Gods himself. Oh, you believe it, his wife made sure to get her revenge on the women and their demigod-like children. Zeus got away with everything.

“That sucks.” He sighed.

“Imagine how my dad feels. He still nags about it. Their little adventure didn’t exactly end on a happy note.”

Good to know. Their story was a warning. There was no getting out of an arranged marriage, Athena would make sure of it. He grunted and laid himself down on the ground. “I hate this.”

She patted his head receiving a wry smile from him. “You act like it’s not a normal thing for you Athenians. Marriage is always arranged with you guys. You told me yourself.”

“Maybe. But it doesn’t feel normal to me. How do you Spartans do it?”

She laughed and laid herself down next to him gazing up at the leafs of the forest. “Not any better than you Athenians. With us, the men have to kidnap the women out of their house in the middle of the night. Not really a fun thought when you know you have a few suitors.”

Jack chuckled. Okay, now the Athenian way did sound better. “Did anyone ever-“

“Yes.” She grinned. “Didn’t even make it that far. Didn’t even make it inside. I pinned his hand to the wall with an arrow. My dad was actually happy the guy didn’t succeed, disappointed that I let him out alive.”

“You actually pinned his hand to a wall with an arrow?” Jack felt chills running down his spine. That must’ve hurt.

“Well, if the man succeeds in taking the woman they end up at his place doing-uh -well.” They ended up concealing their marriage in his bed. Even if the one fo them didn't want to. 

“Oh.” Jack got it. He understood her reaction and her reasons. Merida was not going to let a man abduct her on any occasion. She was too strong for that. Reason number two was her freedom. She told him herself. She didn’t want to settle down for anyone, especially because she wanted to form her own destiny. Which was quite motivational to Jack. However, after 300 years of a little freedom, the idea of actually raising a family (having an actual family) and growing old with them started to sound more appealing.

“I guess some don’t actually mind because they know who is coming for them, so they make it easier for the guy to take them.” She tried to imagine how that would look like. The guy just opening the door, taking his lady’s hand and just walk right out. No struggle. No blindfolding. Not anything. 

“And if she doesn’t want to?”

“You fight.” But the men mostly ended up getting their way. Which Merida hated. Not only was this the way of arranging a marriage in Sparta. Each person had to have pure Spartan blood or it was no good blood at all. Sparta was rough. It was bloody and often cruel but it made them strong and tied together. Well, at least that was what she was told. For one, they gave you the chance to fight. The chance to say no. You could gain freedom, you just had to fight for it. Athens, on the other hand, didn’t give you a choice. She pitied them for that.

“I’m starting to get some inspiration from you guys.”

“How come?” she turned her head to him realizing he was already looking at her. How long had he been staring at her while she nagged about how stupid their marriage traditions were?

He grinned. He was going to fight. If he didn’t want to marry, so be it. It was his freedom, wasn’t it? If not, he would have to fight Athena for it. “I’m not getting married."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 11 is already in the making, if anyone is still hoping on my updates, they're coming but I just need the motivation and support from you loving sweeties ;)


	11. Now you listen to me!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Great, just great. Could things get any worse? 
> 
>  
> 
> yes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am here to grant you with another chapter,

Last few hours had been difficult. Jack had no idea how he was going to confront Athena with his decision. No doubt about it, the river goddess wouldn’t be too angry about their break up. She would find someone eventually to share her ‘passions’ with. But how was his mother going to react to it?

Merida had been encouraging his choice which quite surprised him. She’d helped him to find the right excuse, how he had to stand up for himself and where she would be if all went to shit. She had been way too enthusiastic when he’d announced he was going to stand up against his mother. Not that he minded. Merida had been a great friend after all this time even during their dispute. He wished he’d never used his powers on her, it could’ve ended up much worse. But he was glad it hadn’t, and he was glad they had laid down their differences instead of keeping their stubborn act up.

He had to choose his words right.

The temple on the Acropolis was silent. Her last priestess had left the domain and the Goddess of Wisdom stayed behind to admire her throne, her kingdom, her altar.

“I-I want to talk to you.” He stuttered on his first word. That wasn’t a good sign. Could anyone blame him? He was about to go against the will of a goddess. A powerful _Olympian_ goddess.

She was standing with her back to him but he saw her hand freeze before a statue inches from touching the stone. He’d received her attention.

It took him another few seconds before he dared to talk to her again. “I’m not going through with it.”

She turned around and stared down at him.

She was giving him a chance to correct himself. He wasn’t going to. “This marriage is not going to work.” He raised his voice and heard it echo through the temple. He felt himself taking a step back when he found her cold eyes locking on his.

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m saying no.”

“I’m sorry, I think I misheard you.” She stepped closer to him until she could look down on him.

Jack felt himself getting smaller under her stare. Gods, if that stare could kill. “N-no. I told you I didn’t want this marriage and you went ahead with it behind my back. I’m not going through with it because I don’t want to.”

“Because you don’t want to?”

“Y-yes.” _Great, what confidence!_

“You’re usually not like this? What changed?”

“Because I’m not listening to you?”

The answer was yes, but she didn’t respond. 300 years he’d followed her every command. No wonder she recognized his changed behaviour. “Is there another reason why you don’t want to?”

Jack found it hard to swallow.

His mother decided to answer for him. “There is a mortal, isn’t there?”

“No.”

“No? There must be something holding you back.”

_I’m holding myself back._

“Who is it?”

“Someone like me.” _Wrong. WRONG! You should’ve lied!_

“Can you be more specific, Jack?” Jack avoiding her question started to annoy Athena.

“I’m not telling you.” He took another step back and suddenly found himself stuck against a pillar. He forced himself to look at Athena. “You’ll do whatever it takes to get me to listen to you.” He said it. He finally said it out loud. And he was right. She would do whatever it took to get her way. Every god did.

“You ‘ll worry I’ll kill them.”

He nodded silently.

 “I knew you were keeping something from me. I told you not to deal with mortals. Only when I tell you to.”

The air between them was cold. Ice cold. Jack felt the air getting thinner. He struggled to breathe. “I don’t.” He lied.

She raised an eyebrow and leaned her chin on her hand. “How about the blacksmith’s assistant?”

Jack didn’t even hesitate to question how she knew about it. He stepped closer and tried to make himself big. “You leave him alone.”

“Attaching to mortals makes you weak, Jack. I’ve told you-“

“Yes, you’ve told me a hundred times. I don’t care if I’m weak. I want to live.”

“What? Are we playing the hero now?” There was something about her grin that made Jack’s body go numb. He couldn’t move. Her grin contained no emotion, it was dark and it was stone-cold.

Jack had read about great heroes. Heracles, Perseus, Atalanta, but besides Odysseus, no real mortal or demigod could stand up against a true god. So why was Jack trying this? Why was he trying to fight his mother?

Unfortunately, his mother knew the answer. Jack was becoming more human than god. He was becoming like them, weak because of emotions. But he had the arrogance of a demigod to still pick a fight with a god.

“You know what’s wrong with those heroes? Those demigods they tell tales of. Those damn epics you still read.”

He shook his head. Too scared to answer.

“They always fail. Even after their victories, their weaknesses lead them to their end.” It was better for Jack to stand alone. Attaching to someone, meant they could break you in an instant.

“But they carry the name of their parents, people admire-“

His mother grabbed his throat and violently pushed him against the stone pillar. “They carry _our_ name in vain, they _die_ in vain.” She yelled. “I will not let you drag my name through the mud so you can run along with pathetic mortals. You’re not a mortal, Jack. You’re a god, and you carry my name with those powers I gave you. You could’ve ended up much worse.”

Jack’s eyes widened, he couldn’t get any air in his lunges. He tried to pull her hand off his throat but she was too strong. He felt something crawling in his skin. Something strong. His skin under her hand was slowly turning to stone. It was worse than hydra blood, this was the worst pain he’d ever felt. He wanted to scream but her grip on his neck only tightened. He felt her power crawling up like a virus. It was impossible to utter a word out, so he looked into her eyes and he pleaded.

“So I’m going to give you one more chance. You’re going to be smart and keep yourself out of the misery of mortals and putt yourself between us where you belong.”

Her grip loosened a little. But even though the stone crawling in his skin terrified him to death, Jack couldn’t keep himself from fighting. Was it his blood or himself? He didn’t care. “Gods aren’t any better than mortals, you make the same mistakes. The only difference is you can get away with it.”

“Maybe some of us do, like my brother.” She gritted between her teeth. “But he’s weak, defenceless, just like his people. He thinks love can actually survive in this world. No, I’m better. I’m smarter.”

With that she released him. Jack dropped to the ground and grabbed his throat. He gasped for air and started coughing. The stone was still there, woven in his skin, making it heavier for him to catch his breath. It didn’t disappear. “What did you-?”

“A warning.”

“To do what?” he jerked his head up. It hurt so much to move, to breathe. What in the underworld did she do to him?

“To follow my orders.”

 _I think we have mixed perspectives on what makes me weak._ He thought. “Why so much trouble to get me married?”

She kneeled and grabbed his chin so she could glare at him one more time. “Allies. Power. That goddess is a far descendant from Poseidon. You two together could help gain back Athens’ power over the sea.”

So that was it. That was the truth. That was why she did it. He was just a pion in her tactical game.

“You want to be a hero?” she asked. “Be a smart one and do this for my people, our people.”

Tears now streamed down his face. Not only did the stone in his skin hurt. Jack realized there was no getting out of this. Especially if he wanted to keep his friends safe.

Never had anyone seen him crying. Not even Merida. His mother was the first. Even though she thought he was weak. Jack thought differently. He was rebelling. His tears, his crying, his whimpers. It didn’t make him weak. It was a sign he was still alive after all this time.

“My skin, I-“

“Funny little gift really. Gave it to Medusa when she betrayed me and we all know how that worked out.” She lowered his hand to look at the damage she had created. The skin of his throat was corrupted with stone. Where skin and stone collided, the goddess could see red marks. But she didn’t regret her actions. Jack needed to wake up from his little fantasies. A child needed to listen to his mother. And if not, she would make him. “There are only a few people that I have taught the ability to remove it. One of them being you loving fiancé.”

Jack forgot to breathe. This wasn’t happening. She wasn’t doing this to him.

“I don’t want you near any mortals unless I order you to. You don’t leave this city unless I tell you to. And the only emotions I want you to feel are anger and wrath. Do not pity the mortals. This is your last warning, Jack.”

Jack narrowed his eyes to the ground. His vision blurry because of the tears. His body shook.

She stepped away from him. 

Jack pulled himself together and found the strength to stand up. His stuff rested a few feet away from him. With shaking hands, he took his bag and threw one more look at the woman who brought him back to life.

Her gaze found his and it remained silent for several seconds.

 “Understood?”

His voice cracked. He let out a trembling breath. His body numb.

“Yes, mother.”

* * *

 

The pain was dreadful. Jack lost all strength in his legs and fell on his knees on the floor of his house. One hand rested on his wounded skin. It felt cold and hard. He was scared that if he took a breath too deep, the stone would crack.

His staff remained in reach but he had no longing to grab hold of it. He let his powers flow out on the floor of his mansion until it crawled up onto his walls and even froze part of his indoor pool.

He wasn’t going to her. He refused to crawl back to her just so she could heal what his mother had done to him. It would put him back where he started. Stuck.

He took another shaky breath. He couldn’t do anything. Running would make no sense. His mother would find him. More powerful people than him tried to run from gods they’d angered and failed miserably.

He wasn’t going to the river goddess.

Neither was he going to see Hicc. He couldn’t do anything and it would put him in danger.

Merida.

Was she still waiting for him? He couldn’t drag her into this anymore. His mother was coming dangerously close to discovering his friendship with Merida. The goddess of Athens was terrifying if things didn’t go her way. The thought of what she could do to the demigoddess terrified him.

_Not her. Anyone but her._

He grabbed his stomach trying to calm down his breathing. Maybe he could turn this situation around. Maybe not for his sake but for his friends. His house remained dead silent. Usually, he didn’t mind the cold, he didn’t mind the silence. Now he felt empty, cold and alone. The last warm ray of sunlight disappeared.  And with it his last hope of getting out of his misery. Gods, could he relate to the tragedies he often saw in Athenian plays. Maybe he wasn’t dying nor did he kill anyone, but in many ways, did he feel miserable as if he had reached the end of his not so epic story.

* * *

 

 

The pantheon of the Acropolis was empty. Merida couldn’t hear anything. Not anymore. Her hand rested above her waist where she’d been hit by an Athenian guard. Fortunately, she had been stronger than him and knocked him unconscious before he could increase the damage. The wound wasn’t deep but enough to release some blood. Merida bit off the pain and looked around. Jack had been gone for almost seven hours straight. She began to worry when Jack hadn’t shown up after the sun had already gone down and hurried off to Athens. He wasn’t with Hicc, nor at his favourite spots he’d shown her when she visited Athens in disguise. Last chance was the Acropolis. The worst scenarios had started to play in her head. She had talked him into this. Merida had convinced him to do this. He could be in dead for all she knew. She had to see if he was alright. That’s when the guard noticed her and recognized her gear not being Athenian.

She swallowed her pain. She climbed back up and started to sprint to the last place where he could be. Luckily, she hadn’t bumped into the Athenian goddess. Merida would be executed on the spot.

The few runs to his house had always been long and exhausting. It was far uphill but Merida didn’t take long to reach it this time. She stopped at his door but it was locked. She yelled his name. No answer. Her heart skipped a beat. Please, let him be alright.

It was long past her curfew. Her father had been asking for her to stay home after dark. Merida had run into too many hunters after sundown for the past months. Even though she was a demigoddess, her father wanted to keep her safe. She was still mortal after all.

But she made an exception for Jack. She could face her father later. “Please, be here. Please, be alright.” She muttered as she kneeled to pick the lock. She heard a click before she even reached the handle. The door softly opened revealing an incredibly pale skin, flushed red eyes and dark grey stone crawling over the skin of his throat.

Merida couldn’t feel the wind anymore. Nor did she hear anything. She stared up at the horrifying image not sure how to react.

His blue eyes seemed to have a lost colour and flashed open when he remarked her wound. “Merid-“

The demigoddess pushed herself up and ignored him pointing at her wound. “What did she do to you?” she cried. Her hands flew to his neck. She didn’t dare to touch his skin but it looked very painful.

He seemed to be at the verge of a breakdown. He pushed her hands away from him and looked down at the blood red fabric around her wound. “Did she do this?”

“No, a guard caught me, I-“

“A guard? You went into the heart of the city? _Alone_?” His voice didn’t grow louder, instead, it grew smaller. It sounded weak, broken.

She quickly shook her head and waved it away with her hands. “Doesn’t matter.” She laid her hand on his shoulder and rubbed the stone on his neck with her thumb. Jack didn’t flinch instead, he stood still and let her stroke over the stone. She eyed it horrified. _This matters more._  “It didn’t go well, did it?”

He shook his head.

“Does it hurt?”

“What do you think?” he suddenly barked at her. Jack found himself scared of his own voice and took a step away from her, back into his house. He could feel a cold air around his hands and quickly called back his powers before he released them. “I-I’m sorry. It’s just… the only one who can cure this shit is my mother and my…” he clenched his fists and groaned. “…fiancé.” He managed to get it out of his throat.

Merida followed him inside and closed the door. She pulled off the cap of her cloak and watch as Jack couldn’t even reach a chair. He fell on his knees and covered his mouth. Merida’s heart shattered into pieces. What had she done to him to break him like that?

He didn’t want her to see him like this. He didn’t want to see her anymore after what Athena had done. Again, he didn’t want to drag her into this anymore.

His mother had done it. She managed to break him. Tear him down with no way for him to get back up. What could he do? He suddenly felt a warm hand pushing up his chin. His mother’s cold eyes flashed before him for a moment but they were quickly replaced by Merida’s bright eyes.

“Maybe we can get a healer or something.”

“The only one I know is a daughter of Apollo but it will take too long to reach her.” He also knew a daughter or Triton nearby, that used her transformations to walk on land. But he couldn’t see how she could help him. The longer he thought about it, the more he started to see how many gods and demigods he knew by heart by studying their parents.  

Merida frowned and seemed to think. “I think I’ve got something with me to-“

He grabbed her wrist before she could move. With one motion Jack pull her against him wrapping his arms around her. it was something he didn’t like to admit but he needed her warmth right now. He needed her strength to keep him standing. Gods, he needed her or else he would break down again. He quickly felt her hugging him back tightly. He could finally breathe easily.

“I-it’s going to be fine.” She tried to ease him. She had no idea how to keep him standing. She was afraid that he was going to slip out of her arms so toughened her grip on him.

“Thank you.” He managed to get out. He heard her sniff and felt her patting his back very awkwardly.

He sighed and finally pushed himself away from her. He was getting too attached to Merida. She was the only thing he got left and even then, he would lose her soon enough because of who he was. An immortal demigod, son of the cold-blooded, power-hungry Athena.

“You should go.” He hated himself for every word he spoke. It was never a good idea to push someone away. But it was for her own good. If his mother found out he saw Merida a regular basis… If she found out how he felt… the consequences would be much worse than damaged skin by stone.

He realized slowly he’d said the wrong words. She frowned and pushed him against his shoulders. “No. I’m not leaving you again.”

“But-“

“But what?! You’re hurt, you’re stuck. The last time I left you like this, we both were a wreck. Look at you!”

“Wow, thank you. I didn’t know I was a freaking mess. But thank you so much for pointing that out.” He managed to get out the little bit of sarcasm he had left.

She angrily clenched her fists and groaned at him. “I’m helping whether you like it or not.”

He wanted to yell at her that he didn’t need her help. That he was fine, that he would make it without her. But he wouldn’t last a week without the Spartan. He swallowed those thoughts and took her hand in his immediately receiving her attention. “I’ve been stuck in the shadows for centuries. From the moment I started to walk among mortals, I swore I would never crawl back into that darkness. But she’s giving me no choice. I don’t want to bring anyone into danger. I don’t want to bring you into this.”

His words seemed to have its impact on her. Her eyes were fixed on his for seconds. He was the first to look away. 

Merida was never good with words. She often messed up during speeches, when she met royalty she forgot the right addresses and the right behaviour. And when she tried to convey some of her feelings to someone, she failed; miserably. So, she had no idea how to fix this.  She had no idea what to say to make the smartass snowflake happy again.

“This…” he gestured towards the ruined skin on his neck. “Is not disappearing until I do was she wants.”

“There is one thing.” It suddenly came up to her. She had it on her for weeks in case she would bump into some hunters or monsters and her wounds were too severe to heal with time.

“Merid-“

“Hear me out for once. I know I don’t always have good ideas but hear me out.”

He remained silent. Her cue to continue.

“Remember when we accidentally ran into some witch’s fort.”

“I do.” A weak but soft smile slowly formed on his face. Merida had sworn a witch lived somewhere West that had a potion for _everything_. And she had. Potions for transformations, powers, lust, etc… Jack even remembered one labelled as a ‘ _happy ending_ ’, but he was too busy running off with Merida through the chaos when the witch chased them out of the instruction. He couldn’t remember the location though. It was somewhere far, far away from Athens. He quickly realized where she was going with this. “You stole something from her didn’t you?”

“You think I would leave without getting something from her collection?”

That redheaded vixen! He stroke back his hair and shook his head. “You’re unbelievable. What did you find? A spell to change my mother’s mind would come in handy right know.” Or poison.

“At first I thought I found dragons’ blood-“ she wildly searched her satchel for the little bottle.

“Dragons’ blood kills people.” Jack muttered.

“Yes, but...” she proudly showed the little green bottle. “But dragons’ saliva apparently heals every wound.”

_Can it fix my mind? My emotions and logic are a little bit messed up right now._

“Maybe.” She walked closer to him, laid her hand on the place where Athena’s hand had held her grip and studied it with an odd fascination. “It can fix this. Then were one step further.”

“Use it on your wound.” He lowered her hand.

“I somehow knew that you were going to say that.”

“You’re still bleeding.” He objected.

“Are we really doing this? Are seriously saying I’m more badly wounded than you?”

“No, but--“

“Look.” She opened the bottle and quickly gagged of the stench. She only poured a very small dose on her finger tips and applied it to her wound. It didn’t even sting or ache. Her wound was gone in minutes. Faex, she should have stolen more. The potion had a thicker substance than the others she had seen. Some were so thin, smoke erupted from them once poured down and this one was more slime than actual liquid. It wouldn’t really work if she’d just applied to his skin. The stone was a curse, so it had to be healed from the inside.

“Are you sure it will work?” Jack asked hesitantly. “And what do we do if it works?”

“You’re her son, right?” she started to mix the potion with water from his little pool and shook the little bottle.

“Sort of. You kn-“

“Just get your Athenian butt back there and say you’ll do something better than that stupid goddess she chose. That way you have extra time. We’ll find something.”

 _We…_ “To do what?”

Merida wanted to open her mouth to answer but she actually had no clue. What should he do? “I don’t know. Something.”

She was right though. He had to do something. Something that would give him more time to figure a way out. He had to dig. And perhaps that meant using his mother’s excuses against her. Or searching for help where his mother wouldn’t.

Jack almost threw up when she brought the bottle close to his mouth. He covered his mouth and backed away. “Oh gods.”

“Just drink it.” She insisted.

“Are you sure you want to waste that valuable potion on me?”

She raised an eyebrow. Was he seriously asking that question? She grabbed him by his tunic, pushed the bottle onto his mouth and squeezed his nose so he’d have to swallow for air.

With two big gulps, the liquid went down his throat, Jack wanted to gag.

“Keep it in.” She commanded him.

Jack back away from her and swallowed the last bit of the disgusting liquid. Oh gods, he still tasted it. He waited for seconds. It could have been minutes, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t dare to see her reaction. “Is it gone?”

Her warm hand slid up his neck. It felt warmer than before.

“Merida?’ He closed his eyes. _Please, let the potion work._

“No.”

“No?!” Jack couldn’t breathe. His hands instantly flew to his neck but he could feel nothing but cold skin. His eyes shot down at Merida. “You little-!”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“You almost made me cry again.” He shrieked in a high-pitched voice. Gods, he wanted to slap that pretty smile off her face.

That was the last thing she wanted to happen. “So what now?” she asked hesitantly.

Deep down he knew he was going to need Merida. Just as he was about to give into his mother’s orders, she would pull him right back out. She made him focus on what his goals were instead of his mother’s. He was going to do the one things he promised his mother not to do. “I’m going to need back-up. I’ve written hundreds of pages about people all around Athens.”

She folded her arms. “What? You want to form an army?” She raised an eyebrow in a playful way.

Jack chuckled and pointed at the tower of journals resting on his table. “She wants me to stay amongst gods, people like her and me. I want to help mortals. Maybe I can do both?” He jumped excitedly. His mother hadn’t broken him yet. His spirit had returned to him. He wanted to bolt for the books when Merida stopped him.

She gently laid her hand on his cheek and stared up at him. “Jack, I’m happy you’re back. But you’ve had a tough day. You need rest.”

He didn’t even resist nor did he object. He nodded silently. “Are you going to be okay heading back to Sparta?”

She wouldn’t mind staying here. But Merida had no choice. “If you can lend me a cloak that’s not obviously Athenian. I’ll be fine.” She grinned. The cloak and uniform she wore now were not only ripped but also very Spartan and she still needed to sneak out of the enemy’s territory.

After some searching, Jack found a brown cloak and handed it to her as she found her way out of his villa. Jack squeezed her into one more hug before she left his side and disappeared into the shadows.

This day started with weary feelings. Only at this moment, Jack felt good. His mother’s deadly stare and cold grip still haunted him. He knew it was going to be the main story in his nightmares tonight, but he couldn’t help but feel proud for facing her.

* * *

 

 

“Blood?!”

Merida narrowed her eyes to the ground. Her father had found her before she could reach her house. Of course, she couldn’t hide the red stain but she’d hoped he wouldn’t make a fuss about it. She’d had worse wounds.

“What were you doing at this hour?”

“I was helping a friend.” She lied before. But she knew he somehow saw through them. Maybe she could tell the truth for once. But Athena’s actions still bugged her. She hoped her father would have a different reaction.

Her brother popped up from behind him. “Ooh, a friend.” Domos teased.

His brother raised his eyebrows in a playful way. “You know what that means.”

“It means if you don’t keep your mouths shut, you’ll have your butts on fire.” Merida sneered them quickly irritated by their comments, holding her fist in the air ready to conjure her magic.

Her brothers held their hands up in defence and backed away. Her father, on the other hand, folded his arms and eyed her suspiciously. “You’ve been acting strange lately.”

 _I wish I could tell you. You have no idea how much I need your advice right now._ “I can’t keep my head straight lately.” She confessed once she noticed her brothers were out of sight.

“Merida.” Her father laid his hand on her shoulder. She looked up trying to keep her face neutral but her barrier almost broke. “You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want to. But you got blood on your clothes.”

His daughter groaned and rubbed her eyes. Gods, it was late.

Ares sighed and decided not to question her any further. She must’ve had a good reason and she got out alright as always. She was his daughter after all. “You’re really having it difficult lately, aren’t you?”

Merida let her arms hang loose. “Is it that obvious?”

Even her brothers noticed. That’s why Ares tried to keep his eyes on her whenever he could. “I know you’ll find your way. You’re a Spartan. We always find a way and if not, we fight for it. Can you tell me what happened? Who got you into trouble?”

She nodded but ignored his last questions. She always lived by that idea of fighting for what she wanted. But she couldn’t fight her way out of this one. “Was it hard?”

“What?”

“Just...” she pressed her lips together. “The whole thing with Aphrodite. You’re still in love with her, I know you are but-.”

“It still hurts every day.” The God of War sighed. “But I can’t change what happened.” His hand now rested on her red cheek. “Merida, why are you asking?”

“I-I don’t think I’m myself anymore.” She sniffed.

“You are my daughter. You are Merida, a fearless Spartan. You’re-“

“Just like you. I KNOW!” she yelled. She back away and dug her face in her hands. “People fear me.”

The room remained silent.

Her father tried to break it. “Dear, they don’t-“

“Yes, they do.” Her voice shrieked. Every day she walked past mortals that either avoided looking at her, looked at her in horror or screamed as they fled. Or they just didn’t recognize her. (those were the best days, she thought.) Mortals wrote about her as if she were a monster. She was the daughter of The God of War and people treated her that way. “I used to think it didn’t matter. B-But people don’t even dare to set a foot near me unless if it’s an asshole in search for power. People try to kill me as a victory.”

She had felt like a demon and people looked at her as if one word were to set off her rage. Only Jack didn’t. From day one, he looked at her with fascination. He didn’t run, he took her hand and pulled her closer. She had craved so long for friendly contact she didn’t mind it was from an Athenian. Gods, he always smiled when he saw her and it made her so giddily inside. It was terrifying feeling like this. What if he fled like the others when she opened up to him? What then? Gah! She had never felt like this! _Gods, I hate love._

“Why did she love you?” How did that make sense? People feared Ares. He stood for vengeance, war, anger and so many evil things. Faex, his two sons were the literal embodiment of fear and panic and they were in fact sons of the two lovers. How in the underworld did their relationship work?

Her father interrupted her rant and grabbed her by her shoulders. “Merida, look at me. You’re clearly lost and I understand that feeling. Ignore those who fear you, being my offspring does not defy as a whole. The people who care about you do and being yourself does it just fine.”

She shook her head. The only people she had were Ares, her brothers, Artemis and… Jack. Even then with her powers, with who she was, she could lose all of them. She was mortal.

“You want to know how I did it? I loved Aphrodite because she was the only one who saw good in me. While everyone was busy seeing me as a tantrum throwing angry vengeful god-, which I can be sometimes.” He shrugged. “However, she saw my frustrations. She didn’t fall for a god full of wrath, she fell for a hero who lost himself. Just as I loved her for more than just beauty, I saw her kindness, I saw her passion. We were two things that weren’t supposed to match. We were anger and love. War and peace.” He paused. “Almost as fire and ice and yet… we fitted together like two pieces of the same puzzle. She made me feel powerful, something I still feel to this day because I still love her. She made me whole when I felt alone, Merida.” He now had to wipe away the tears strolling down his daughter cheeks. He sighed hating to see his child having to struggle with this. “So, if you feel lost, that’s okay. But know that you aren’t the problem. If people back away, let them. Someone will see your fire and admire it for its warmth and beauty instead of its danger.”

Merida was weeping heavily and felt herself shaking. She felt so confused and angry. Her feelings for Jack had grown so strong, she began to grow afraid of them, even furious. If she would ever go the same way as her father did, she would lose him. And she would have no one that could calm the storms raging inside her. “I-I just don’t think we can ever be…” her words died out. She was unable to finish her words. Her father pulled her against him. She could hear his immortal heart beating steadily. At least, someone understood her.

“So, I guess there is someone?” he asked whispery.

She nodded. Unable to use her voice.

“And you two are in a tough situation, huh?”

Again, she nodded. Just as Ares and Aphrodite. But Jack had no idea how Merida felt and she detested it. It could’ve been so much easier if she hadn’t had to hide it from him. Only, she couldn’t bear the thought of him rejecting her. And it was all Eros’ fault. It was all love’s fault.

“And knowing you, you haven’t told them yet.” She was too proud to do it. Just as her father had been. But Aphrodite outsmarted him. He held in his chuckle. Merida would be too stubborn and too Spartan to admit it. For some strange reason, he pitied the creature she fell in love with.

It stayed silent.

Ares cleared his throat and softly pushed her back so he could look down into his daughter’s beautiful blue eyes. “So when you do-“

“If.” Merida corrected him. “It’s not that easy, dad.”

He ignored her with an amused smile. “When you do.” He repeated himself. “You enjoy every moment of it, no matter how everyone looks at the two of you. Alright?”

She shook her head. It wasn’t that easy. Jack had to wed, he was immortal. So many things were set against them. Not only that, what if he didn’t feel the same way as she did. It would ruin everything. Maybe everything would stay fine and Merida could continue her journey on her own. “Dad-“

“Just remember when you two are enjoying each other, to let me meet them so I can kill them.”

“Dad!”

“I’m kidding. Maybe, I’ll cut their tongue or something.”

“WOULD YOU ST-“

He laughed. He patted her bright red curls. “Maybe I’ll scare the crap out of them, I don’t know yet.” His hand glided back to her cheek. “Just know if they break your heart, I’ll break them.” He promised with a deadly serious expression.

She chuckled lightly. She really hoped he was still joking.

Ares was happy to see her tears had dried. “Just don’t let them get away that easily, you’ll regret it. I know I have.” Ares sighed. He wanted Merida to learn from his mistakes. Perhaps he and Aphrodite did see each other occasionally, but they still were forbidden to be together. And he was reminded by that every day. He didn’t want any of his children to live through that same pain.

Merida hugged him tightly and let out a sigh of relieve. “I love you, dad.” She wasn’t ready yet to tell her father who it was. She was just glad for his advice. She was happy she had someone to run to when everything went to shit. At least someone cared for the Spartan that she was.

Gods weren’t supposed to love mortals. Yet it happened. Apollo, Eros, Zeus, many of them had fallen for a mortal and had either regretted their actions or had lost said mortal in the process. But for Ares this was different. Merida was his daughter, mortal or not. He saw the little warrior in her, the little fire that had sprung up from day one. And he wanted, was to keep that fire burning until her last day.

* * *

 

 

Jack entered his house exhausted and leaned against his staff. Aside from the fact that it was his source of power (well, sort of), it came in handy when he needed something to lean on when he was tired or just lazy. He leaned his chin on his hands and suddenly noticed one of his chairs had been moved. Jack’s home was immense, it had so few furniture that Jack immediately noticed the difference when something small had moved. He gripped his staff and took a defensive position. Why did everything in his house suddenly seem different?

He slowly lowered his bag from his shoulder and held his staff close to his body. He heard something rattle. Small footsteps.

“I-I know you’re in here. I’m armed.” He tried to sound confident and scary but his voice didn’t really match the scary Athenian he pictured in his mind.

He heard something move and turned around to look behind him. Nothing there. His vision was suddenly blocked, something wrapped around his eyes and blinded him. Jack tried to escape his attacker but they quickly covered his mouth with a familiar scent of a sleeping potion. Jack felt everything fade away and fell unconscious. He remembered something. Blurry flashbacks with him being carried through the woods occasionally feeling a bump. He groaned when he felt the bump in his stomach. Gods, how were they travelling with him? How did they carry or drag him? He couldn’t figure out. The sleeping potion made everything feel so upside down. Everything felt out of place, plus his eyes were still covered. He lost consciousness again.

Jack woke up, no longer blindfolded. He squinted his eyes to see if he could make something out of his blurry vision. Gods, what had they given him? Wait, where was he? He slowly looked up and noticed he was in a small sort-like cottage. Wait a second, he was at Merida’s place.

“Finally awake, snowflake?” he heard her laugh. Jack jumped but quickly felt his hands tied up to a beam of her house. “Merida, what in the underworld-?”

“I’m sorry, my plan wasn’t exactly to kidnap you like this.”

Jack was incredibly confused and looked up at her dumbfounded. “What did I do?”

“Nothing.” She smiled at his baffled look. “I just-“

“I can’t run from my mother, you have to bring me back!” he objected immediately. He didn’t care what Merida’s plan with this was. He needed to be back in Athens within the hour.

“I didn’t bring you here to keep you from your mother.”

Jack frowned. Then why was he tied up? Why was he here? He just now noticed Merida didn’t at all wear any armour, nor was her hair tied up. _Great more distractions._ He couldn’t lay his finger on it but he felt there was a reason Merida sat in front of him in her traditional Spartan clothing. She looked stunning in them, but he wasn’t used to it.

Merida suddenly started smiling and dug her face in her hands. “Oh gods, what was I thinking?” She laughed at herself ignoring Jack who had no idea what was going on.

“Can you at least explain why I’m tied up?”

“You didn’t really study our traditions, did ya’?”

“Traditions?” his eyes widened. “Are you going to sacrifice me or something? Did I betray you? What in the-?!” Faex, he was going to die, wasn’t he?

She violently waved her hands at him. “No, no! I just-.“ she dropped her hands in her lap and looked at him. “This was a stupid idea.”

Jack tried to ignore the fact she actually tied him down, he was too interested in why she kidnapped him in the first place in the middle of the night. “Are you trying to pull a joke on me? Is this revenge for getting you in an Athenian dress? I’m sorry but you look beautiful in blue.” His rant went on.

Merida blushed and shook her head. “Forget it, I thought you would figure it out. But it was a stupid idea anyway, oh… I should’ve thought this through.” She pushed herself up and went to grab a dagger to cut the rope around his wrists.

Jack looked down at the wooden floor and quickly tried to use his brain to solve this puzzle. He was kidnapped and taken to her home. She didn’t want to keep him safe or anything, nor did she say that he did something wrong. She didn’t want to trick him. So… Jack suddenly froze. “Oh.” It was almost a soundless gasp, a whisper but Merida noticed his change in demeanour.

“What?”

“Oh.” He repeated. He stared at her not knowing what to say. “Oh gods, you actually- oh..- oh gods!” he couldn’t look at her anymore after his reaction. He looked down and tried to ease his heart starting to race. “You could’ve just asked me! LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!” he raised his voice. He was panicking, this wasn’t happening. He was dreaming, this couldn’t be real.

She returned to her place in front of him. “And have you react like this? I just thought-.” She stopped mid-sentence when Jack started to chuckle.

The demi-god shook his head. “You Spartans have a strange way of asking for someone’s hand in marriage. Seriously, Merida. Where did you get this idea from? Why me of all people?” Jack was laughing with tears.

Merida felt dumb. She clenched her fists and tried not to start yelling at him. All of this was just a pure impulse, she didn’t know what would happen. “I’m sorry, this was a stupid idea.” _Stop laughing._

“No, princess. It’s not.” His laughter died out, he finally felt confident enough to look at her.

“Oh really? Would you just have walked with me to Sparta if I asked you? In the middle of the night?!”

“Yes, I would.” He grinned.

Merida stuttered and felt something twitch. Her stomach turned. “W-wait, what?“

Jack kept his eyes on her and leaned his head against the wood behind him. “Not really the marriage proposal I’m used to.” He shrugged. “Are you really that surprised?

She was taken aback. She thought he would struggle, that he would yell. Not that she was going to do something against his will, she would never. But it couldn’t hurt to try.

Jack gazed at her, his eyes softening. “So…why am I here if it was such a stupid idea?” Even though she would never do something he didn’t want to, she still brought him here for a reason. He wanted to know the specifics. He wanted to understand.

Merida tried to straighten herself but she could barely control the trembling of her hands. She felt so nervous. What should she tell him? “I-uh…” she moved closer and slowly laid her hand in his neck. She avoided his gaze. “I want _you_.” She bit her lip. It sounded so idiotic, sort of childish and so cliché but it was the truth. Gods, what was she thinking? What wine had she been drinking?

Jack let out a small chuckle. This was such a strange situation. “Merida.” He pleaded her to look at him. Her turquoise eyes glanced at him. “I…” he paused and felt himself smile at her. “I want you too.”

She didn’t move nor did her eyes. They stayed focused on his. Gods, Jack feared he would drown in them if he stared any longer, but he couldn’t make himself look at away. The silence was deadening. 

“So are we waiting for the sun to rise or mpf-.“ He didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence. Before he knew it her arms were wrapped around him, her legs next to both sides of his waist and her warm lips on his. There was no doubt, he instantly opened his mouth to welcome her and kissed her back. It felt like dropping himself into his large comfy bed after a long day, never to get up again, to fall asleep in its embrace. That’s what Merida felt like pressed against him. Gods, he never wanted to leave. Even though her belt being pressed against him, made it hard for him to breathe.

Jack began with small kisses, then deeper, and felt Merida’s lips curl up against his. She let out a small humming moan when she released his lips. Jack grinned, he captured her lips again and slightly moved his tongue against her upper lip. She pulled back with a gasp. The demigod was out of breath but couldn’t break his grin.

“Are you okay?” Merida asked while she softly touched her upper lip.

Jack let out a huff. “Your belt against my ribs makes it hard to breathe. I don’t mind.” He shrugged. Merida’s belt held everything together when she didn’t have her armour on. Most civilians used rope or fabric to tie their clothes around their waist.

“You want me to take it off?”

“I-uh-only if you want to.” Jack stuttered, blood running to his cheeks.

She smiled foxily. “I want to.”

“Good.” Jack couldn’t even hear the belt fall on the ground. His eyes were only focused on her clothes loosening up without the belt holding them together. His breathing slowed when he got to see more skin.  

Merida shoved closer to him and pulled his tunic. “Can I take something off you?”

He still had trouble breathing but it wasn’t the belt, it was her hand slipping under the thick fabric of his tunic. “Only if you want t-to.”

Merida moved from his lips to his neck and kissed him above his collarbone up to under his cheekbone. She pulled down the blue clothing, exposing Jack’s pale skin to her and let her other hand find its way down. “I want to.” She chuckled in his ear.

She left no space between them. No air for him to breathe, but he couldn’t care less. It was so pleasing, it felt so warming, gods he could get addicted to this. If he wasn’t already.

Merida teased him. Her hand moved down, caressed his skin but not so far down yet to play with him. He wouldn’t mind and she knew that. Gods, this was enough to set him on edge.

Jack tried to pull his hands back remembering himself that he was still tied up. Merida moved her waist closer and clutched his hips between her thighs. She was heated. _Oh gods, this really didn’t help Jack calm down his hormones._

Their lips found each other again and soon Jack found contact with the Spartan’s tongue. The Athenian moaned. “Merida, please untie me.”

She ignored his plea.

Jack’s muscles tensed. He tried to wiggle his wrists lose and cursed Merida’s tying skills. There was incredible warmth between her thighs that made Jack want to push his waist up to feel more of it. She pushed herself against him. And then she started to grind. Jack couldn’t handle it. He wanted to explore. He wanted to feel more skin.

He let out a small moan against her lips. “Please, untie me.”  His body ached. He yearned to touch her. He wanted to do what she was doing to him. “This is torture, Merida. You’re not playing fa-.“ His plea was interrupted by a gasp and then a moan. Merida’s hand had started to touch him.  

 Jack closed his eyes, leaned his head against the wood behind him and moaned loudly. Merida hovered over him and leaned her forehead against his. “I-I can do that, right?” she asked hesitantly, not moving her hand anymore.

“For the love of Aphrodite, Merida. Please, don’t stop.” He jerked his head up to kiss her but soon released when her hand started to play with him again. She muffled his groan with her lips. “You still want me to untie you?” she whispered against his lips.

“Please do.” He looked up into her eyes. “I want to touch you, Merida.” _I want to touch you like you’re touching me._

“How badly?” she smiled. Strangely, she liked having this kind of power over him.

 _Damn you._ “Very.” He breathed out.

She quickly grabbed the dagger. Jack didn’t even wait till the rope was fully cut. The moment he felt it loosen around his wrists, he pulled them back, wrapped his arms around Merida and pulled her against him. He planted soft and small kisses around her collarbone and continued his way further down across her warm skin. Her felt Merida shiver in his arms but figured it was a good thing.

Merida’s eyes shut, her left hand grabbed the back of his neck and she let out a high-pitched moan, sounding almost melodious. “Mh-Jack.”

 

“GOODMORNING, MY LADY!”

Merida shot up and felt herself fall. Her hands instantly flew to the stone she had been laying on, yet she still fell on the grass beside the sacrificing stone at Artemis’ temple. She breathed heavily. Oh gods, she had dosed off while she waited for him. OH GODS, she had a wet dream about an Athenian. This wasn’t happening. She hid her face behind her hands and peeked at Jack through her fingers. He was packed with a new satchel, staff and new Athenian clothing she hadn’t yet seen before.

“Were you sleeping?” he asked puzzled.

Merida sighed and dropped her hands. _I’m not blushing, right?_ “You took a while, I fell asleep.”

“I’m sorry.” He snorted. “It looked like a good dream, though. Did I interrupt something good?” he dropped his satchel on the stone.

Merida grunted and combed back her hair. “Sort of.” _It was good, alright. Too good to be true._

Jack leaned on the stone and grinned cockily. “Was I in it?”

Merida was not going to give him ANY details. “Yes.” She lied.  Well, she didn’t exactly lie. He was the main subject of her dream. “We met a very angry drunk god and you got killed.”

“I died?” he frowned.

She nodded, glad she got that awful handsome grin of his face.

“How did I die?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “You…were…struck by his magic?” she lied making strange gestures in mid-air.

“Did I at least try to heroically save you?”

Odd question. “Uh-yes?”

He nodded satisfied with the answer. “Good.” At least he died saving what he loved. He jumped over the old stone to her side and handed her the disguise.

She sighed. “Really? Athenian clothes?”

“Ariel is family of Poseidon, I can’t be seen with you wearing Spartan clothes. No matter how much I like them.”

She smiled up at him. “You actually like them?”

He shrugged. “Without the armour? Myeah. They fit you best.”

Merida tried to hide her smile and ran to the back of the small temple to change. She came back with a with a tunic and bright blue _chiton_ wrapped around her. She held her belt in her hands. “I can’t wear this, can I?”

As much as he would like her to, she couldn’t. He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Merida.”

Merida pouted and sighed putting the belt away in her bag. She felt naked without it. It was a part of her so it felt very strange to walk around without it.

Jack took her hand in his and started walking. Ariel was the seventh demigod/god on his list. Until now he got a demigoddess to get more boats near the Athenian harbour to transfer goods, he convinced a small city to let Athenian back in and a nymph to help agriculture on the other side of the city. He sometimes had to use his newly found charms, but got help and built new relations outside the capital.

He felt Merida’s thumb stroking his wrist. He looked down at their hands and sighed. His mother had been furious once she discovered he had healed his wound himself. Jack had quickly tried to convince her he could do better and she had given him a small time to explain himself. He had a short time to strengthen relationships and do what his mother wanted ‘be around the gods’ and get a good reputation. Up until now, it was working, but last night his mother had putt back a curse on his wrist. Small specks of stone were woven back into his skin. He hoped Merida wouldn’t notice but she did.

“I don’t have any left of that potion.”

“I know.” He sighed. “She just wants to make sure I’ll keep listening.”

Merida groaned and tightened her grip on his hand. “I’m getting you out of this.”

“You don’t have to. We’ll see what happens. I need to get a message from Apollo for my mother, maybe he’ll be able to get this off.”

“I hope so.” She whispered lost in her own thoughts.

He squeezed her hand and pulled her further. “You look beautiful in blue by the way.” He said softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not apologizing, I love writing dream-sequences to tease you guys XD


	12. The rush is worth the price I pay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm the worst, I KNOW!   
> It's been too long, but I still have one exam to go and I really had to pull myself through it to get this chapter done, even after my beta read this, there were still a few mistakes   
> I do love you guys so much to keep up with me, thank you <3

“Not ever?”

“I got a chance to get on that fleet. Maybe I’ll get to see some of those mystical creatures you’ve been telling me about.” Hicc beamed.

“So you’re leaving Athens?” Jack raised an eyebrow. He wanted to come say goodbye to the scholar but he never expected Hicc to be the one leaving.

“Well, you can fly, don’t you? This isn’t goodbye forever.” His friend chuckled while he packed his iron tools.

The demigod sighed. “Maybe.” He paused and looked around once more in the blacksmith’s shop. He felt distant from the Athenian symbols.

His friend almost dropped a few tools and tripped over a chair. “So-Ah!- so how is she?” He straightened himself and tried to pose self-assured.

“I thought you two didn’t get along?” Jack snickered.

Hicc frowned. “Yes, working with her was a nightmare. She threatened me. I don’t get how you keep up with her. But-.”

Jack grinned amused and raised an eyebrow.

“- you’re still madly in love with her. I’m not complaining. She keeps you happy.” The young man rubbed one of the last bruises remaining on his arm.

“Hicc, I told you, I’m not-“

“Oh, yes you are.”

The son of Athena shot him a dangerous look but the mortal only laughed. Hicc had come a long way.

“How long did it take you to get to her after you found the journal?”

He avoided his friend’s questioning look. “One hum, shit.” He mumbled.

Hicc folded his arms. “Sorry, louder. I didn’t hear you.”

“One hour.” Jack got it out through gritted teeth. He had never flown that fast to Sparta.

“Hah! Oh, you’re so dead.”

“Thank you. That’s exactly what I needed, Hicc.”

His friend let out chuckle and opened his arms to welcome Jack for a hug. Perhaps this was a too touchy subject for the spirit. “You know the name of the ship?”

The demigod quickly nodded and gave him a hug. _I have no freaking clue._ “Be careful around those isles, will you.”

Hicc let him go and started to collect his maps. “I will.”

Jack knew he couldn’t stay long. He had no clue how his mother knew about the young scholar, but he didn’t want to bring him into trouble. The demigod pulled the cap of his cloak over his head and grabbed his satchel. He stopped Hicc and laid his hand on his shoulder. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, Jack.” Hicc smiled. “You too.” He wanted to ‘tell’ Jack he had to admit to his feelings but decided a demigod like him could find it out himself. This last goodbye was hard enough as it was but Hicc wanted to get out of this city and fast. He wanted to see more of the world.

The demigod hurried out of the small house and watched over his shoulder to see if anyone had seen him. Whichever person who ratted him out had to be very devoted to Athena, Athenian and had to know about Jack and his transformations. Perhaps one of the priestesses. He couldn’t afford to be seen, so the white-haired immortal turned around a corner, then another and occasionally turned around to see if someone was spying him. He rubbed the fabric he had wrapped around his wrist to prevent Hicc from seeing his little curse. Athena’s handprint could be seen set in stone on his skin.

“I’m going to miss that idiot.” He muttered to himself. Hicc often served as his voice of reason. Jack had no idea which paths he had to pick, hearing the opinion of a mortal often helped. Since his friend had had a taste a life, and Jack hadn’t really. Ironic for a demigod who served as an actual advisor and spokesperson for his mother.

* * *

 

 

“Oh gods, that did not go as expected.”

Jack patted a wet cloth on Merida’s forehead. It was a small wound but he hated when Merida got hurt physically. He didn’t respond to Merida’s comment.

The two were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Jack had to get information from Apollo for his mother but didn’t want to wait in line alone so he easily convinced Merida to tag along with him. She insisted they’d go off route on their way to Delphi and rest at an inn. The fight was unexpected. A group of Athenians had found out two Spartan guards were stopping at the same inn. While Jack wanted to resolve the discussion, it quickly turned into a fight and Merida managed to wiggle him out of it until she got hit by one of the hooligans herself.

Even though Jack could just fly into the temple and ask the priestess to see or hear from Apollo, he waited in line just as the other mortals. In the blazing sun. In a very … long…. line.

“You seem distracted.”

Jack heard her say something but he was to be busy spying on the people around them to see if anyone spotted that two disguised demigods were out of place. He felt his hand being pushed back. Was he still patting her head?

“Hey.” She laid her hand on his cheekbone and immediately received his attention. He always gave her his full attention when she did that. “What’s with you?”

“Nothing.” He lied. He tried to keep eye contact with her to convince her there was nothing but he failed. She immediately noticed.

The line moved and the two demigods got to take a few steps closer to the giant temple inside the large domain of Delphi. Jack hoped it had distracted her but she quickly took his hand in hers. “Maybe we can head back to that witch after this?” she suggested not looking at her friend.

“We can’t keep stealing healing potions, she’ll find another way to get to me eventually.”

He heard her let out a frustrating groan. “Why don’t you just leave? Just disappear without a trace.” She said while making few quick movements with her hands.

“We’ve been over this. She’ll find me, Merida.” Jack glanced at her but Merida avoided his gaze. She angrily folded her arms.

Jack took in a deep breath and wrapped his arm around her. She flinched shortly because of his unexpected move but quickly eased. Jack rubbed his thumb over her arm. “Thank you for coming with me.”

 _Where else would I be?_ Merida thought stubbornly. The line moved again but Jack didn’t let her go. _This is going to be a long day._  

 It took two hours but they finally got inside. Merida let go of Jack whose hand she had been holding the last hour and took a few steps towards the side of the second entrance of the temple. “I probably shouldn’t go inside with you.”

 _No, I don’t want to go in alone._ His inside voice pleaded. He sighed and let her walk to the side. She was right, they couldn’t walk in together, Apollo knew them both. Or at least their parents.

Jack had only spoken once to Apollo. He was a god of everything, healing, music, theater, writing, the future and so much more. It had impressed him and he had no idea how to address the ancient god. A woman impatiently waved Jack towards a private entrance. Jack swallowed awkwardly. He was in civilians clothing, how did she recognize him? Was it the white hair? Besides, wasn’t he supposed to meet with his high-priestess or was that her? He hesitantly followed the woman into a long hallway with small holes in the walls for them to view the outside world, he went down a few stairs until the point torches were needed to lighten their walk. After a few minutes Jack entered a very large dimmed hall, his steps on the tiles echoed through the room. The woman dressed in very ancient and traditional clothing remained at the entrance and encouraged him to gor further.

The demigod noticed a large seat and in front of it a sort like mirror that seemed to reflect something else than what was in front of it. Was it even a mirror? He heard someone laugh in a very low voice. Jack almost backed away when Apollo, the god himself, rose from his seat.

“Birdy!” he cheered as if seeing a long-lost pet after it had run away.

“Oh please, don’t call me that, it’s just Ja-AH!” the god picked him up and hugged him, making it very difficult for Jack to breathe.

The god laughed loudly and put the demigod back down. “I haven’t seen you in a very long time. How are the journals coming up? It’s been like a hundred year since you started on those.”

Jack’s eyes widened. “How do you know about them?”

Apollo ticked against his head. “I can see everything, Frostie.”

He swallowed awkwardly. _Everything?_ “I-I came here for-“

“Your mother, I know.” Apollo’s demeanour quickly changed. “Because she can’t ever pay me a visit herself, can she?”

“I’m sorry.” The owl of Athena apologized.

“You don’t have to.” The god paused. “Is it because I once had a wine drinking contest with that Athenian general?”

Jack felt his eye twitch. Athena never told him that.

Apollo grinned at his reaction. “I just tried to get him drunk. You Athenians are very stiff and very serious.” He laid his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “But also, very handsome.” He winked and turned back to walk to his seat.

The demigod didn’t know how to react and felt blood rushing to his cheeks. “I have a letter, I-“

Again the god of the future interrupted him with a very amused smile. “She always asks questions she knows I won’t answer but I’ll see if I can speak to her at the next gathering.”

Jack wanted to ask Apollo about his wrist because he knew Athena would only break the curse if he got a response from Apollo on her request.

The god suddenly frowned and looked behind Jack as if something was missing. “Where’s your friend?”

Athena's son jumped and almost dropped his staff.

Apollo gestured the woman at the entrance and within moments Merida found her way in. The god smiled and dismissed his subject. Just as he greeted Jack, he lifted Merida up in a tight hug. “You little rat!” he laughed. “You know it doesn’t hurt to visit me, because I get the feeling Artemis is your favourite sibling.” He looked down at the Spartan.

She didn’t know how to respond and smiled awkwardly. Apollo grabbed her hand and dragged her next to Jack who had been frozen to the floor. The two eyed each other feeling the tension Apollo was creating.

“Look at you two being besties! Ah, I love it!” Apollo cheered as he took both their hands.

Jack quickly halted the god. “Apollo, this-“

As always Apollo didn’t mind cutting him off. “I’m not telling Athena. You can breathe easily, Jack. That woman has the wrath of her mother.”

He let out the air he had been holding. The last few seconds had made Jack’s world stop. He had panicked incredibly when Apollo got Merida into the room. He almost wanted to make a run for it.

The god smiled brightly. “Gosh, you two look like a great team together.”

Jack pulled his hand back and took a step away from both.

Merida felt herself blushing and laid her hand rest on her belt. “We are.” She caught a surprised smile from Jack but she kept her eyes on Artemis’ brother.

Apollo’s grin only widened. “Amazing, you know, I rarely get visitors like you guys.” He gestured them to get closer to the mirror and swiped over the glass. On the glass, the young gods observed a very strange situation. A man rode a beetle towards the Olympus while singing with a very weird soundtrack added to the picture.

Apollo laughed. “Aw, mortals’ dreams are so fun to watch.” He swiped again and received a small girl dressing up as if she was a warrior.

Merida stepped closer and found herself melting. “That is adorable.”

“You guys wanna watch a few of these?”

Jack joined his friend. However, he shook his head towards Merida. “I feel like we’re breaking their privacy.” He said being a total hypocrite. Jack regularly watched mortals going on with their normal life. 

Although Merida knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t mind watching a mortal’s dream, she agreed with him.

“Alright, doesn’t matter.” Apollo grinned. “How about a deal?” He took Jack’s wrist and wildly pulled off the fabric that was tightly wrapped around his wound. “I get this bloody thing of your skin, and you two play a dream game with me.”

Birdie frowned. “What game?” He felt his friend’s hand on his arm and gave her a puzzled look. “You actually think I should?”

Apollo interrupted before Merida could answer. “She cares about you, of course!” he snapped his fingers and in a flash the stone had disappeared. “Come on, it will be fun.” He turned to his mirror and twirled his hand. “Touch the mirror and my friend here will pick a random dream from your mind. Hah, I never get visitors to do this with me. Even Artemis finds this game stupid. Can you believe it? Hah!” Moana, a daughter of Poseidon, once threatened him she would smash him. 

Jack wanted to run but Merida stopped him. “He healed you.” She muttered. The least they could do was stay and do as he asked.

 _Fine._ Jack dragged himself towards the glass and carefully watched Apollo as he touched the glass with a softly trembling hand. The image in the mirror changed and to his surprise it wasn’t one of his dreams he wished Merida never would see. Well, this one wasn’t one of his favourites either.

In the glass was a Jack in a purple Roman tunic kneeling in front of an audience serenading. “Oh no.” he whispered.

He froze when he heard Merida snort. She hugged him and covered her mouth in an attempt to stop her laughter attack. “Oh Dionysos.”

“I-I read about Romans that day. Okay? You know I always wanted to learn Latin!” He tried to explain as he stumbled over his words.

“Why the singing?” she asked between laughs.

 _Apollo, damn you!_ He liked it when Merida laughed like this, even at his expense but not with this. Not with this dream. It was too embarrassing. “I don’t know.”

The Olympian god shook his head at them. “You know, it’s only fair if you play too, Merida.”

Merida wiped away the tears and took a few deep breaths. “I don’t think that is necessary. I talk in my sleep sometimes.”

Jack snorted. “Yeah, I know what her most embarrassing dream is about.” He was baffled that she told him a while ago, but once she did, the two had laughed for minutes straight. “Isn’t that right, little cub?”

Merida gave him a soft punch and shrugged towards Apollo. “I don’t think I need to.”

“Oh please try. It picks randomly. I’ll get to see it too if it’s the one you’re thinking off.”

She sighed and walked towards the glass. But the image didn’t yet form when she placed her hand on the surface. The glass formed black as if clouds blocked its view on the dream. Merida pulled her hand back and stepped away from the mirror towards Jack. “I-uh.”

The darkness slowly took form for dark rainy clouds. Showing Merida in a heavy rainstorm. “Oh no, not this one.” Merida breathed out. Her hand flew to her belt and she felt Jack’s arm wrapping around her to comfort her but she pulled away. She detested this dream but she couldn’t look away, the ending was inevitable. She wanted to grab Jack and pull him out of the hall but she found herself stuck.

_Dream-Merida rushed her way over the battlefield screaming her friend’s name. One of her hands covered her chest where she was bleeding. Her hair and clothes were soaked, her eyes flushed pure red._

_She was bleeding heavily. Soldiers left and right passed her in fight. The war scene slowly fading. The leader of the enemy had fallen. People yelled out to her, but she ignored their shouts. She had to get through. She had to see for herself. She had to see him._

_“No.” she murmured. “No, no, NO.” her legs were trembling, she was bleeding, blood running down on her amour and her muscles were sore. She dropped her bow when, in the sea of red that filled her sight, she suddenly noticed a golden armour and blue fabric smeared with rosewood red liquid. He stood there without any sign of struggle. Blood dripping down from the left side of his chest where a Spartan arrow carved with little markings had hit its target._

_“No!” she screamed and ran towards just in time before he lost strength in his legs. She caught him in time but fell to her knees on the dirty ground. She wanted to do something about the arrow but he aggressively pushed her hand away._

_“Don’t touch me.” He growled at her._

_She froze for an instant. Dream-Merida ignored what happened around them on the battlefield. She ignored the screams, the looks they gave her, the roars. All her eyes focused on was him. “Just let me help. You can’t die, can you?” she quickly cupped his face. He was immortal, he couldn’t die._

_He threw her a vile look. Yes, he could die. Because of her arrow pierced in his chest. “You’re a good aim.” He grunted._

_Merida wiped her own cheeks and lifted up his head. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. Please, believe me.” She pleaded. I don’t want to lose you, you know that. The voice in her head screamed._

_Jack flinched and received a sharp pain in his chest. “Ah! Damn Hades, why would I believe you?”_

_New tears sprung in her eyes blurring her vision. “Because…” She took a deep breath, threw a glance at the arrow and the red stain around it and closed her eyes in the hopes all of this was just a cruel nightmare. She released the air in her lungs. “Because I love you.” She diverted her eyes back to his and felt the world go dark._  

 

The sight on the mirror faded. She wanted to scream. Scream like she did when she woke up from that nightmare.

She wanted to disappear. She refused to look at him, she couldn’t handle this. Her eyes were forced on the mirror. With the last image of her miserable eyes fading in darkness.

Jack broke the silence. “I would never push her away like… I would ARGH!- What it is this?!” he yelled loudly at Apollo, his mind in chaos. 

Merida turned to him, refusing to let the tears find their way out.  She couldn’t talk. Her voice was gone.

Her friend noticed her tears and grabbed her shoulders. His watery blue eyes locked right onto her as to desperately ask her to stay where she was and look at him. _Please, don’t move. Look at me and stay. Please._ “Merida, please. You don’t get it.” Now they were both crying. Merida’s dream had broken him. “I lov-“

Her aquamarine eyes suddenly shut, her body went numb and collapsed in his arms. Jack quickly caught her and held her close to him. She didn’t move. “Merida?!” he never even got to tell her.

He jerked his head up at Apollo. “What did you do to her?!” he shouted at the God. Screw respect, what happened to his little redhead? Why was she unconscious? And how could he get her back?

The god suddenly wore a grim expression. “I’m sorry, Jack. This shouldn’t have happened.” He snapped his fingers. Within the moment, Jack’s mind shut off. With Merida still held close to him, he fell unconscious on the tiles.

The god of Delphi sighed at the sight of the troubling pair. “Oh I should not have done that.” He paused and noticed Jack’s arms were still tightly wrapped around his friend. “I definitely shouldn’t have done that.” He leaned his chin on his hand. “They are so cute together though.” He groaned irritated. He would love to tell both to just kiss and make out like a cute couple. But he promised the rest of the gods not to meddle as much with mortals and demigods as he used to. But Apollo loved it too much to watch others’ lives. He wanted to meddle.

When a person entered his temple asking for advice, he would always end up lying a little bit about their future so they would end up with the person Apollo wanted for them. With a little bit of manipulation, Apollo could simply turn his ‘OTPs’ into ‘canon’. But this love-story.  Gosh, he loved seeing potential futures for the Spartan and the Athenian. Their story was so interesting, but he couldn’t simply play Aphrodite. Or could he?

He snapped his fingers again. The two woke up, Merida quickly shoving Jack back to get some space. “Where are we?” The owl of Athena felt his head as if he had woken up hungover. His head had hit the tiles.

“My temple.” Apollo snickered. “You were just about to leave.”

Merida shook her head confused. “We were just standing in line. Why am _I_ here?”

“You really wanted to join him.” Apollo lied. “I guess you two were so impressed by my priestess scents and candles, it knocked you out.”

Ares' daughter didn’t seem to believe him.

Jack, however, considered it. He suddenly noticed the stone on his skin had faded away. “You-!”

“Yes, I healed you.” Apollo confirmed. “And about your mother. I will let her know what my answer is.” He winked towards Merida. “And I’ll keep your partnership between us.”

She smiled thankfully. Jack still eyed his kin with fascination.

“Now, if you don’t mind. There are more people standing in line and my priestess can’t keep making up prophecies for me.” He grinned.

Merida quickly got up and rushed out of the room. Apollo halted the son of Athena before he could follow.

“You two work great together.”

Jack pressed his lips together for a moment. “Yes, we do.”

“You never drank that wine your mother gave you.” Apollo commented.

The demigod raised an eyebrow. How did he-? Oh right, he could see the future.

“You two should sit down and drink something, celebrate a little. A friendship with a Spartan warrior is very rare these days.”

“Us two?”

“Yes.” Apollo encouraged.

“I don’t drink.” Jack objected slowly stepping away from the god. He didn’t trust what Apollo was insinuating and he didn't know what effects wine would have on him. 

Artemis' brother sensed he was sending strange vibes towards the demigod but he intended to. “You should. Come on, loosen up a little. You two could finally relax. After all you’ve been through and after all she’s been through.” Apollo playfully raised both his eyebrows.

“She has.” Jack admitted. Merida had been incredibly loyal the last few days, and still for no good reason. Maybe he did need to sit down with her and cool off? But where did Apollo get all of this from?

“Now run along, I’ve got more things to do.” He pushed Jack out of the room.

“Oh, Athena’s not going to like this when she finds out.” He muttered to himself once he was alone again. He jumped up and received his very own revelation. “If…if she finds out. Yeah that sounds better.” He didn’t mind throwing one more glance outside at the duo leaving Delphi. “Frick, I ship those two so much!”

Jack and Merida walked down the hill of Delphi next to the long line of people waiting for Apollo’s advice. Jack took her hand and softly caressed her soft skin as to tell her everything was alright. Nothing went wrong, but he somehow felt a reason to do so.

The archer squeezed his hand in return. “What did we miss?”

“I have no clue.” Jack answered. He had no idea. Everything that had happened in the temple was gone from his mind. How long had they been gone? What in the underworld was that blur in his mind?

“You don’t look too good, Jack.”

She almost never addressed him by his name. It was mostly nicknames. “I don’t?” he asked weary.

“You look like reality just hit you in the face.”

“Well, you look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” He shot back. But to be honest, she really looked like she’d seen something awful. She looked very pale. And did her eyes seem a little red?

“I feel like I’ve just seen one.” She admitted. She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“We should relax some time.”

Merida snorted. “We do.”

“Maybe get some sleep.” Jack suggested.  

She chuckled. “We need a drink.”

“I think I still have some wine left somewhere. I just need to get past my mother first tonight.”

“You had me at wine.”

“You’re such a Spartan sometimes.” He laughed.

“Proud to be one, lad.”

* * *

 

 

“I move my legion towards the isles.” Merida moved her pawn to the right of the board.

Ares leaned back and considered his next move. His daughter had improved her battle skills and her tactics. It shouldn’t be long until he could allow her to enter the battlefield. Maybe as a general, even. “Is it a he or a she?” he suddenly asked.

Merida’s eyes darted up at him from across the playing board. She sighed but didn’t move trying to give no indication the question made her nervous. “A _he_.”

The god grinned. “Do I get a name or…?”

“We’re not playing that, dad. Please, just take your turn.”

“Oh come on! At least give me some information.”

“Okay, turn is over.” Merida moved her pawn again.

“Is it a nymph?”

“No.”

“Satyr? Mortal?”

“No, dad. And before you ask, he isn’t a prince either.”

“Oh thank Zeus.” Ares relaxed in his chair. “I know you hate those.” He lifted his head from the leaning of his chair. “Is it a demigod?”

“Dad!” Merida wanted to break the pawn in her hand. “Can you stop?”

“Oh-it is one!” her father laughed. “Can I guess which one?” There were thousands of them. Ares would have to guess a long time before he would find the right name.

“No, you cannot!”

“Alright, alright.” The god of war leaned back against the wood. “I won’t ask anymore.”

Merida let out a deep sigh. “Thank you.”

“Just don’t make any rash decisions like Apollo does, you’re still mortal.”

“Okay, I think I’m heading home.”

“But you were winning.” Her father objected.

She chuckled and shook her head at him. “Not really.”

He quickly gave her a tight hug and walked her out of his ‘sanction’ that no one ever visited. “Remember to come by when the horn sounds.”

She groaned. “Do I have to?” He hadn’t used the darn thing in a while. Since her confession, he’d started to use it again without her knowing. She was in Delphi when he last used it and she came home to a very angry and worrying Ares. The temple had almost been on fire if it hadn’t been for Phobos calming him down.

“Yes.” He responded dead-serious. He patted her head and smiled. “You know I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“I know.” She showed a wry smile and let her father mess up her hair. “I’ll come when it sounds.” It was the least she could do. He was only trying to protect her.

* * *

 

 

“He healed you?”

“I don’t know why but he did.” Jack kept a fair distance between him and his mother. His hand resting on the skin where his wound used to be. He could still imagine the print on his wrist and the pain along with it. His fingertips carefully rested on the spots his mother had left her mark.

His mother turned away from him and pondered for a while. The pantheon was dead silent. Giving him a recall to the last fight he had with the goddess which he wanted to prevent this time.

Her gaze shot back at him and for a second it seemed like her hand reached out to grab him but she quickly dropped it. She let out a frustrating sigh. “Nothing else happened?”  she asked in disbelieve.

“Yes, he said he would answer at the next gathering.” Jack’s voice was small. He hardly dared to speak up against his mother at this moment, so he tried to keep a low volume when he spoke. Athena had had her impact, maybe even like she intended to.

She nodded silently. Another few seconds passed and her eyes shot back down at him. “How was Delphi?”

“G-good.” He answered. He’d never been there. He’d only read about it.  It was such a big domain on the mountain, not only having a large temple devoted to Apollo and open for his subjects but he had his own arena as well as a theatre. It was incredibly vibrant, it had something melodic. After his encounter with Apollo he’d spent hours wondering around with Merida. Jack loved it, unfortunately for Merida because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut about it.

His mother suddenly smiled wryly surprising the halfgod. He barely saw his mother smile, or at least the last few centuries. “I’m glad you had some time to clear your head.” She suddenly said.

“I still don’t want to-“

“I know.” She interrupted him. “Yet, you seem less…”

 _Rebelling?_ He thought.

“Trouble minded.” She frowned slightly. “Like something has been lifted from your chest.”

  _I wish._ He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Maybe. Just… can we leave this for today?”

“Not exactly, my little bird. My words don’t seem to get through to you.”

 _Little bird._ It had been so long since she called him that. Was she going soft on him? Jack must’ve blacked out because his mother suddenly was close enough to lay down her hand on his shoulder.

“I need you to speak to someone.”

Her son was still frozen. He’d become so scared of his mother he didn’t even dare to look her straight in the eyes.

“Maybe she’ll help you figure out where I can’t.”

Jack slightly lifted his gaze. His mother gestured towards one of the balconies of the Pantheon and left without a word. Jack hesitated and held his staff close to his chest. What in the name of Zeus was going on? Who did she ask to speak with him? Was she going to assassinate him? He felt himself shrink. No, not yet. But he needed to be cautious. His paranoia thought.

* * *

**_Long ago_ **

 

 

Jack landed on a rock close to the top of the Athenian theatre. The echo of the theatre was well enough for him to hear the dialogue from the last act. Not that he needed to. He’d seen this story a few times already, each time by a different author and quire. But he never really understood the last act. Well, the main theme was family, but the play always ended up with a death of one of the main characters because of their cherishment for each other. They were fond of each other. But how? Why? Jack never understood those emotions after 200 years, not that his mother would explain it to him. Not that the other epics and poems really explained it to him. Most poems described outer beauty or sexual… things. Another thing he didn’t really understand why mortals yearned for it. However, he did enjoy these plays. Somehow, he hoped to finally comprehend them as a whole. But he always left the theatre even more confounded than he was before.

He decided to leave early and walk to the pantheon instead of flying to meet up with the goddess of wisdom, oh wait, his mother. It really depended on which day it was for both spirits. On his way up the stairs he was startled by one of the servants of the temple. She seemed distressed and let out a little shriek when she bumped into him.

She quickly dropped to her knees, started crying jerkily and stammered in fits and starts. “I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t mean t-to. Please, have mercy.”

Jacks first instinct was to look around him to see if anyone had noticed the little scene. Fortunately, no one. Guess he was still invisible for many, but not for the girl in front of him pleading for his forgiveness. The owl of Athena bent down to her and laid his hand on her shoulder. The girl froze and shrank as if she expected him to punish her.

Jack frowned. “I’m not going to do anything. What happened to you?” she had to be distressed about something.

“She’s going to curse me, isn’t she? Just bring me to her, I deserve it.” She wiped her cheeks dry and looked up at him. For a moment, she seemed to be awed by the demigod’s looks, like she expected something different when she saw him up close. She studied him in silence as if he was a mosaic she just saw for the first time.

Jack tried not to be distracted by the way she was looking at him. Instead he attempted to be toneless as his mother. “And why would she do that?” He knew well enough she was talking about Athena.

“Don’t you know what happened to Medusa? I-I don’t-.” she let out a small whimper. She left her soulmate without a goodbye.

“Of course.” Everyone knew the myth about Medusa. However, Jack could not follow what the mortal was implying. He had to get her out of sight before someone saw her. Whatever she had done, if she still showed her face at the pantheon and asked the advisore of Athena for forgiveness, she still had to be loyal, right? Her crime couldn’t be that severe. A true criminal would run.

He helped her up and dragged her out of sight close to a pillar. “Okay, spill. What’s wrong?” he asked trying not to seem too invested in her.

The mortal blinked a few times, still taken aback because she had the honour to have the Athenian demigod up this close to her. She took a deep breath and straightened herself. “I-I lost my virginity.” She confessed. “I’m going to turn into a monster when I walk in the temple, aren’t I?”

“Not if I have a say in it. Why did you return exactly?”

“Because she’s our goddess. Only Athena judges right by our actions.” She defended the dvinity. “I have to admit what I did wrong.”

It was widely known that each and every one of her servants and priestesses had to be clean, pure, a virgin. That’s why Medusa was cursed, she became unclean. But Jack acknowledged Medusa was raped, she lost her pureness against her will and got punished for it. So in a way he gravely doubted his mother’s judgment.

“Well, how did you lose it?”

“Excuse me?” Her eyes widened and her cheeks received a warmer colour.

Jack was perplexed by the sight. What strange behaviour. He thought. “Well, did someone do it against your will or…?”

“No.”

“No?!” He let her go and eyed her. “You let them?”

“I-uh- well I like him so we-.”

“I don’t get it.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t get it?”

“No.” he answered honestly. “Why would you seek out that kind of contact when you are one of my mother’s servants?”

“Well, he’s kind and sweet and protects me and-“

“Why though?”

“Because I love him.”

“So… you did it against his will?”

“No! For Aphrodite’s sake, no.” she waved her hands in front of her in defence. “He loves me too. I just wanted to be with him. Be intimate. I just realized my mistake when I had to return to the pantheon.”

“You did it willingly?”

She threw him a weary look. “That’s what we humans do. You didn’t know that?” she seemed to smile more and more every time she had to further explain her mistake.

A long and awkward silence fell. Jack was puzzled and couldn’t make himself to understand why the woman had brought herself in danger to be that intimate with another mortal. What was there that he was missing?

“I can’t go back to him, can I?” she asked hesitantly after a few seconds had passed.

Jack looked back at her and thought of her actions. “He’s waiting for you?”

She nodded. A wry smile formed on her face. Clearly, she was torn between her loyalty to Athena and to her lover.

Jack had no clue what her reaction meant. “Do you have anything personal on you?”

She looked stern but eventually showed him her bracelet. “Am I being punished?”

Jack ignored her look. “You did something you weren’t supposed to.” He paused and casted a little spell on her bracelet. “But you did it because you both _love_ each other. Am I correct?” his blue eyes shot up at her. He was actually asking.

She nodded silently.

“My mother is not going to agree with this.”

His comment startled her. Her demeanour turned miserable.

Jack gave her back her bracelet. “I picked this up from Hermes. It kind of hides things like curses and perhaps also your-.” He gestured towards her. He found himself troubled to find the right words.

“I-I’m not getting punished?!” she shrieked.

“I don’t believe you deserve-mmpf-“ he found himself wrapped in the mortal’s arms. The warmth frightened him and he pushed her back. “Let me go!”

The mortal still jumped happily. “You’re actually saving my life!” she squealed.

Jack dusted off his clothes as if she’d smeared something on him. Feelings of a mortal possibly. _Were those contagious? Hopefully not._ “Yeah, yeah. But you want my actual wisdom?”

She stopped jumping. She listened.

“Don’t go in there. Just go to your boyfriend or whatever he is. If you like him that much, don’t return.” He folded his arms and gave her a dirty look. He still didn’t understand her actions and he also didn’t have to agree with them. But she didn’t deserve the same fate as Medusa. This strange woman didn’t deserve the same fate as the protagonists in the plays he saw.

She looked baffled by his statement but decided not to question it. She bowed respectfully and thanked him. She stroke back a few of her curls. “Has anybody else been this close to you?”

Jack threw her questionable look. “No, not really. I’m not allowed to talk to mortals unless Athena orders me to.” He shrugged awkwardly.

The realization that she was one of the lucky few to talk to him dawned upon her. “I’m so sorry if I crossed any lines, I-“

“It’s alright. Just go before anyone sees you. You didn’t have to come back.”

“Thank you. You’re really beautiful this close, by the way.”

“Beautiful?” Jack frowned. No one had called him that before.

She ignored his reaction. “I will tell him what you did for me. I won’t forget it.” She rushed by him and sprinted down into the city. Leaving Pantheon and a life of serving behind her.

Jack muttered something angrily while he still tried to rub off whatever weird feeling she’d smeared on him. “Mortals are strange creatures.” He mumbled while he returned to his walk to the temple.

* * *

 

 

“A-Aphrodite?! AH!” Jack found himself frozen against the wall.

Aphrodite turned around with a wide grin. “Ah the little bird, at last I get to talk to you again.”

Jack was still unable to move. _SHE KNOWS!_ “I’m going to die, aren’t I?”

The goddess remained seated on the railing of the balcony and giggled at his behaviour. She quirked her head. “Am I making you nervous?”

Jack eyed her from head to toe. Red curls, chubby curves and sky blue eyes, yep that was Merida alright. “Incredibly.” He answered honestly.

Aphrodite seemed to read his thoughts, she looked surprised. “Oh, my apologies. I forgot for a moment.” She snapped her fingers and in a slow transformation the goddess changed into her original form. Long strawberry blond hair and golden coloured eyes. “Better?”

He nodded. “Does…does she know?” He took a few steps away from the wall. 

The goddess caught a laughter attack and covered her mouth. “Oh, you mean your little crush?”

“Not so loud!” Jack grunted.

“What? That you have a crush on- “

“AH!” Jack shrieked. “Don’t do that!”

She giggled and held her hands up. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop. But seriously, how is it going with that?”

“It’s not going anywhere and it better be.” He sighed. “Are you going to tell anyone?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Your mother brought me here to see if Eros’ arrow had worked. You don’t seem to be telling her much.”

“I don’t think telling her about this is a very good idea.” He rubbed the back of his head and joined her on the railing. “I’m not going to tell anyone about this.”

She wiggled closer and nudged her shoulder against him. “I’m supposed to be here to convince you of whatever your mother’s asking you but…” she bumped against him.

Jack needed to hold onto the railing to prevent himself from failing. Gods, she had incredible strength.

“I can help you with your problem.”

He flinched and backed away from her. “I don’t think you’re much help. Your son didn’t really make things any better.”

She snickered. “You just need to figure yourself out. Eros just made things a little difficult.”

“Difficult? DIFFICULT?!” _That’s putting it mildly._ “You mean complicated. Does he know what he did? Which person he planted into my brain?!” Jack started raising his voice.

“No, he doesn’t. He doesn’t want anything to do with you.”

Jack sighed relieved. This was meant to be putt away in vault, somewhere deep underground.

Aphrodite stepped off the railing and took his hands. “On the other hand, you need some help.”

He took back his hands. “Uh, no I don’t.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Athena. Her son paralyzed and was unable to speak.

Aphrodite threw the other Olympian goddess a deceiving smile and hooked her arm in Jack’s taking his hand in hers. “Everything’s going splendid.”

She crossed her arms. “Is it?” Perhaps her bond with her son was becoming thinner, but she recognized nervous behaviour when she saw it.

Aphrodite pulled him even closer. “Go with it.” She whispered in his ear. She cleared her throat and smiled back at Athena. Even Olympian gods couldn’t stand each other. “Jack and I were just getting to the core of this. Just as planned but I need him for myself now.” she winked at Athena and snapped her fingers.

Jack took a deep breath and found himself in one of the Athenian theatres. Aphrodite had transported him away from the pantheon.

“Ah better.” She let him go and twirled around with arms right open. “You like this place, right?”

“I don’t think we should be here.”

“We’re gods. We can do anything.” She laughed and walked up the _skene_ of the theatre. “However, let us resume to the problem at hand.” She gestured to him in a melodramatic pose.

 _Are all Olympain gods insane?_ “Oh no. No, no, no.” Jack objected repeatedly.

“Restraining your feelings won’t help.” She sang in a fruity voice.

“Restraining my feelings is all I can do!” Jack yelled.

She smiled and cupped his face. She pouted while imitating a mother talking to her child. “Wittle birdie is in wove and we need to do something about it.”

He pushed away her hands that were squishing his face. _Why do people keep calling me birdie_? “I’m not -.”

“Oh yes, you are.” She interrupted him. She took his hands in hers and dragged him on the podium. She twirled him around. “It’s love, sweetie. The most beautiful thing on Earth. Besides me, of course.” She winked at him. “It’s strange, it’s exciting, it’s-“

“Not for me.” Jack attempted to keep his cold act up. While he told everyone it was nothing but a stupid crush or an idea that got stuck in his head because of Eros, he knew well enough that if it was Merida standing in front of him, he would admit it in a heartbeat.

Aphrodite groaned still in her theatrical act. “Oh for Ares, you’re  as difficult as your mother.” Spontaneously she took his shoulders and shook him. “Tell me that if I say her name out loud you won’t get all giddily inside. Tell me.”

He couldn’t. Jack chose to remain silent. No answer was the best answer in this situation.

Aphrodite was persistent. “Tell me that her smile doesn’t brighten up your day, tell me her eyes are not burned into your eyelids yet.”

“Stop it.” Jack murmured.

“Tell me your heart doesn’t start pounding faster when she laughs, TELL ME that you don’t yearn for her touch or for a single taste of her kiss!”

“I can’t!” Jack finally erupted.

Aphrodite paused in her rant, a sly smile forming on her lips. Did she dig up something valuable?

Jack groaned and frustratingly combed back his messy hair turning away from Aphrodite. “I can’t want something I can never have.”

He felt her hands on his shoulder. “And who says that?”

“Me.” He sneered her.

“Why?”

Something snapped. Why did she keep trying?  Why? “Oh, where do is start? Let’s go with…” he turned towards her and smashed the end of his staff on the podium leaving a trail of frost around them. “She’s the bloody descendent of the enemy!” he hit the floor again creating a small cold blizzard. “We are opposites! We don’t work together! I can never give her what she deserves. AND-“ he yelled making the blizzard grow bigger. Aphrodite let him release his anger. “I am immortal. YOU of all people should know what heartbreak it can cause!” In one swift swipe the blizzard disappeared.  Jack breathed heavily. He had pushed so many thoughts to the back of his mind, restrained so many feelings, hidden the truth for so long and now someone knew. Someone very dangerous knew.

“Are you done?” she smiled.

Jack closed his eyes and let out another angry moan. “Perhaps.” He muttered.

She gently took his hand and guided him towards the seats. They sat down. Jack remained silent.

“Okay so the main problem is the immortality holding you back.” She concluded.

“She’s Spartan.” Jack objected in a very soft voice.

“Minor detail. Now, the immortality…”

“Aphrodite, I-“

“No, I’m speaking. Give me a moment.” She pondered for a few seconds. “What if she feels the same about you?”

“She doesn’t.” Jack stated. There were so many reasons he could give as to why she wouldn’t. Why she didn’t feel that way about him.

“But what if she does?” the goddess insisted.

“Then it’s not fair.”

“Why not?”

“Because I get to live and she doesn’t.”

“Does she?”

Jack nodded sincerely. He’d played out the scenario in his head multiple times. If somehow, by any miracle he ended up winning her heart, how would that make things better for her? They would live together, she would die and he would be alone again. Without her. He rather preferred to watch her grow old from a distnace. “I’m not going to let her waste her life for someone who has plenty of it.”

“Is it really a waste if she chooses to?”

“She deserves her freedom.”

“Freedom can be shared.” Aphrodite objected. “And before you come up with another excuse. She can choose whatever she wants.”

“She does.” He wished her nothing more.

“What if she chooses you? What if you are her way out?”

“She won’t…” he struggled to keep up with valid arguments. “I’m not..”

“Your mother is right, you really are a tough case to crack.”

He didn’t answer it was a quality his mother had taught him. To your friends and your enemies, you must hide your secrets in a labyrinth. Each unrevealed case hidden under another layer. Locked away. But doing that only made it more difficult for Jack himself to puzzle the pieces together. Maybe it wasn’t a good tactic.

Aphrodite suddenly smacked her knee as if she’d gotten the answer. “Aha, alright. Imagine, for me, what it would be like if you started a relationship.”

“Aphrodite-“

“COME NOW, like you haven’t got your fantasies about running into the sunset holding hands.”

Jack attempted to cover the blood rushing to his cheeks.

“What would you do?”

“Outside of Sparta…” Jack considered his words. “Merida…follows the wind, like a wisp’s voice leading to a destination. She doesn’t care what the destination is, she just goes with it.” _Oh Jack, stop trying to be poetic. It doesn’t soothe you._

“And what would _you_ do then?” 

“I would blindly follow.” Even if that path led to trouble.

“Why?”

It came out of his throat. Like a normal statement about the usual weather. Something he haven’t said out loud until now. But he knew it was the truth. “Because I love her.”

“Oh, so suddenly you do?” The goddess chuckled because what he said was no news to her.

“Shut up.” Against the grim situation he was in, he could see why she found it funny. So he too let out a smile.

“You said it out loud.”

“AH.” He groaned. His hands flew to his head. “I know!” _Why in the underworld did I say it out loud?_  “What am I going to do?!’

“Tell her.”

“No!” Jack raised his voice.

Aphrodite let out an annoyed grunt. She napped her finger and within moments Jack found himself at his villa at the entrance to his garden and pool.

The goddess of love angrily pointed her finger at him. “What is it with mortals like you that makes you such cowards when it comes to things like feelings.”

Jack scarily took a few steps back. “I-I’m technically immortal.”

“Well, you sure act like a mortal! Why not get straight to the point?”

“Because it’s not as easy for us.”

“You think it was easy for me? I got stuck in a freaking net to be with him!”

“Then why did you do it?!”

“Because I love him!” she yelled loudly.

Jack felt his heart accelerate and all warmth leaving his body. The goddess of love, of freaking pleasure and relaxation was angry. She was yelling. Yelling at him.

Aphrodite recognized the change in his demeanour. She exhaled heavily, let out a huff and in one sigh let out whatever evil had arisen in her. The goddess straightened herself easily and crossed her arms waiting for his response.

Jack swallowed awkwardly. He got her angry. No wonder. Everyone knew how Ares and Aphrodite ended up. Naked. Caught. The affair for everyone to see on display. Of course, she would be angry if someone doubted how far she was prepared to go for love. For loving a god of war and destruction. 

“Can I ask you something?” he tried to hide his fear from her.

“Ask me.”

“Why go through all of it, all that misery to end up being apart?” He frowned.

She huffed. A wry smile appeared on her face. But sadness filled her eyes, Jack recognized it. Because he found that same sorrow in himself.

“When a really handsome buff Spartan with a few anger issues and big heart points a sword at you, it’s kinda hot, isn’t it?”

“I can relate.” Jack replied.

“I know. So, why won’t you?”

“I don’t want to put her through it.”

“She can handle it, you know.”

“Still.” Jack mimicked her position and crossed his arms.

 _You’re impossible just like your mother_. Aphrodite thought. She inched closer and laid her hands on his shoulder. “If you’re still wondering, it’s worth it, Jack. Every day, every second, every moment you two can breathe the same air. Every moment you get the chance to kiss her. Believe me, it’s worth it. Think about it, okay?”

Jack nodded sincere. Her eyes were now fixed on his making sure Jack would keep his promise. He couldn’t lie. She was the goddess of love. He couldn’t lie to her anymore. He would keep her advice somewhere in his mind.

“Good. At least I got something out of you.” As was her normal behaviour, her attitude changed to joyful again in a second. She clapped her hands. “You’re going on a date!”

His eyes widened. How much could Olympian gods know?!

“Don’t give me that look.” She laughed. She moved back inside and swiftly changed back to her magical form. Jack failed holding back a sharp squeal.

Aphrodite laughed madly at his reaction. She pointed to his bag on the table filled with food, one of his journals, an Athenian game and a bottle of wine. “See, it’s a date.”

“I-it’s not a date.”

“Yes, and I’m not wearing her look right now. Anything else, birdie?” she picked the bottle up and showed a foxy smile. She putt it back, walked to him and patted him on his chest. “You’re going to have a great night.” She grabbed the back of his neck and promptly kissed him on his lips. Jack staggered and let out a gasp when she released him.

Aphrodite revelled. “Ah I love bemusing people, anyways-“ she pushed her forehead against his.

He remarked the goddess was somehow smaller than him. Had she always been?

“Keep those eyes of her in in your mind, will you? Do not even let your mother get control over what you love, you understand? When everything falls, love is the last thing you can cling to.”

Jack responded with a quick nod. Her last words lingering.

“Good.”

* * *

 

 

“Did anyone follow you?”

Merida halted over a tree stump when his voice reached out to her. “I-I...” she quickly glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t think so.”

He exhaled relieved and greeted her with tight hug. She didn’t even question and returned the embrace. She let out a little giggle and squeezed him tight until she noticed he had trouble getting air.

“Are you okay?”

Merida was studying him again. After a long time of bonding, she always did that when she detected something was off. Something had happened and she always noticed. He hated that.

“Can we not do this?” _Not today._

Merida took a step back. This was unusual for him. “You look distressed. You usually look like that when your mother did something.” No, she needed to be sure. “Le’ me check!” she took his arms pulled down the fabric to look for wounds.

Jack couldn’t help smiling at her. “There’s nothing there. Can we get back to our plan?”

She jumped up meeting his gaze. She eyed him suspiciously. “What aren’t you telling me?”

 _You have no idea._ “Nothing important.” He lied. “Now please, for once… the Athenian needs a drink.”

His last words convinced her. Merida took the lead and hurried down the narrow path of the woods leading to a small part of the ruins of Artemis’ abandoned temple. Jack guarded their backs. Last weeks had shown him, he needed to be paranoid. He wanted to be alone. He didn’t need any eyewitnesses.

“You never in 300 hundred years have drank wine?” The two demigods had settled themselves against a fallen pillar overlooking the remains of the temple. Merida brought enough spare sheets to sit on while Jack brought food. The Spartan pored the wine in his cup but only stopped when the liquid touched the edge.

Jack almost pulled back. He wasn’t intending on drinking that much. Right? “N-no. My mother said it makes the mind unclear.”

The redhead chuckled in a low voice like she had an evil plan. “Yeah, it does. But it’s good though. Makes you feel all warm inside.” She’d already taken a big gulp from her cup.

 _Someone else has the same effect._ He thought. But he held the comment back.

“DRINK.”

He hesitated. Something about the colour of the liquid made him doubt. It was dark pink. “Eh…”

Merida pushed the cup up to his lips and forced the sweet elixir down his throat. Jack compelled himself to swallow it. First, he felt a short burning sensation. Then it gave him a tingly sensation. It tasted sweet, but also strangely bitter. Somehow his mind wanted more. He brought the cup to his mouth again and drank the rest of it.

Merida almost choked. “Don’t drink all of it at once!”

“It’s good!” For once, a gift from his mother was actually beneficial to him. Well, he was drinking it with the wrong person but still it was delicious “How long till I’m drunk?” he asked her almost excitedly.

Merida threw him an amused look drinking the rest of her cup. “For you? Not long.” On the contrary, Ares' offspring could drink three bottles without it even scratching the surface of her mind. That was her Spartan blood.

Cups were refilled and the two now laid down on the spread-out sheets.

“This is kind ‘f a sleepover.” Merida pointed out.

“Oh, shut up.” Jack nudged her. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and tried to clear his head. The bottle was empty. Had the wine already had its effect, or not? He looked up at the night sky to see if his vision was still clear.

“Whatcha looking at?”

Jack pointed up. “Orion.”

Merida laid her head closely next to his and tried to follow his gaze. “Show me.”

The Athenian instinctively took her hand in his and pointed them up to one of the stars in the sky. “You start there…. Follow the line…” he forgot where he was going with this once he’d pointed out the shape of the constellation. But it was nice holding her hand again. It gave off a nice warmth against his own skin. “Are we drunk?” he asked dropping their hands.

“I don’t know.” She redirected her eyes to him and remained silent for a few seconds. "You're really beautiful." she blathered smiling dork at his snow white hair and blue eyes. 

Jack shrugged. "I know, Princess." 

She cracked up. "Why are you calling me 'Princess' now?"

"Because you're royalty me." he said still staring up at the sky. 

"Hand me the wine, peasant." she ordered him in a cocky voice. 

"It's empty." Jack dropped the empty bottle on the grass and shot a worried look at his friend. In an instant, two started to laugh hyterically. 

Their sudden laughter slowly died out as they both looked up at the sky dazed from the alcohol.

“You know…what I just realized?”

“What is it, Princess?” Jack turned his head to her.

Red-curls snorted. “You are not a demigod like me.”

“Wha-now?” his drunk smile disappeared.

“Technically you’re not a demigod.” She turned her full body to him laying on her side. “Think about it. You’re immortal.”

“B-but I used to be human.”

“So was Asclepios.” For months, Jack had been hammering stories and epics down her throat. No wonder she could now sum up a full list of names to back up her argument. “And Hercules is now immortal, and-“

Jack covered her mouth so she’d stop giving examples. “I am a demigod!”

She pushed his hand away. “No, you’re a god. Like a minor god.” she cackled and suddenly gasped. “You should write about yourself!”

The immortal choked. “A demigod can be immortal!” he objected attempting not to crying. But even he had to admit that Hercules became a god after his death so he could roam on the Olympus.

“Which part of you is human then?”

“I-I mean… that can’t be…I’m..” the Athenian broke down. “Oh gods!” Jack began to cry loudly.

The Spartan princess crawled up to wrap an arm around his shoulders. “It’s okay.” She tried to comfort him petting his head. _What have I done? What have I unleashed?_ She thought.

“No, it’s not. I’m immortal” he sobbed as if it dawned on him for the first time that he’d existed for 300 years. “I’ve been labelling myself as something I’m not!” Their friendship was a lie! Jack crawled up into a ball and swung himself back and forth. “I’m going to be alone forever. I don’t want to be alone!” he cried.

Merida cradled him. A part of her found a drunk Jack the most hilarious thing she’d ever seen, the other part struck her like a knife.  “Calm down, snowflake.” She tried to hearten him. “What do you mean? Why does it suddenly bother you?”

“I don’t mind getting married!”

Her eyes widened. He got her full attention. She straightened herself and sat up next to him. Side to side they looked at each other, the tension growing. “You don’t?” It had nothing to do with what he had been crying about, but she was more curious to see where this was leading up to than to see him weeping.

Jack cursed himself and cleaned his face. Clearly, he hadn’t picked the right words or kept his statements in the correct order. _How did that happen?_ “What I mean is, you had your influence on me and I’m obviously against the idea of marrying someone I barely know…but… I don’t want to be alone for the rest of my life. My immortal life.” He added the last words as to remind his miserable self. “I-I want companionship.” His eyes were suddenly expressionless. He gazed out before him. “And I think my mother knows that’s one of my greatest weaknesses.”

She laid her hand on his chest but didn’t receive a reaction. Did she really get him this drunk? Was he blabbering or actually telling the truth? The latter alarmed her. She shouldn’t be listening to this. Not with Jack in this state.

The winter-god laughed at the irony. “My immortal life makes me  afraid I never get to spend it with anyone.”

 _Jack stop it._ She thought. Merida had trouble thinking straight but found the idea somewhere in her blurry mind to lay her hand on his cheek. Now his eyes darted to her. Attention received. Her heartrate suddenly went slower, she felt both dizzy and awake. Her mind shut off and something seemed to take over.

“I don’t want to be alone.” He repeated softly. Awed.

Merida seemed to be in some sort of trance. She gaped at him making Jack terrified that if he looked any longer in her eyes, he would gladly drown in the blue. Her thumb softly stroke his lips. She seemed to be contemplating something.

“You don’t have to be alone.” She whispered closely to him.

 _I don’t?_ It was impossible to divert his eyes from her. Something clouted his mind. Made him unable to think straight. But that was usually the case when he was near her. Somehow this was worse. His sense was completely muddled with. Only, her touch was pleasingly warm.

Her kiss was even more engaging.

It was swift and against her Spartan background, so gentle it enchanted him. Jack remained motionless, letting Merida capture his breath. Like a warm breeze against his skin he let it pass.

Normally he would jump, he would rejoice. Instead he was dazed and melted under her caress when she kissed him a second time barely letting his lips go before capturing them again. _Gods, I love you._  His body screamed.

She moved slowly, covering the patterns of his lips. Drawing out a very soft moan from him. She let go.

“You’re kissing me.” Jack remarked dumbfounded. His voice weak and his volume low.

“I know.” She smiled. She caressed his cheek and kissed him again. This time Jack returned the kiss, more importantly he deepened it. His hand moved to her neck and motioned her closer. Something had taken control. Perhaps it had been Merida or was it something else?

Jack sank to the ground, Merida hovered above him keeping her lips just inches above his. Teasing him.

“You’re mad.” He breathed.

She let out a chuckle in response and granted him another kiss. Feeling his cold breath against her lips. Kissing wasn’t going to do. She wanted more. A little voice in the back of her head made her realize she wanted all of him.

Jack brushed the back of her neck. Tender kisses led to heavy kisses, pushing their bodies against each other forcing them to stop occasionally to breathe. Jack wrapped his arms around her and rolled Merida onto her back. They laughed like drunken idiots both not having a clue where this came from or where it was heading. Both did not care.

Merida grabbed his arm and pushed Jack off her. He was taken aback for a moment.

The Spartan grinned slyly at him.

He heard a click and watched the belt slid off. _Damn you, Merida._ She was daring him. She wanted him to act first. Truth be told, he didn’t need much convincing. He leaned in, caught her chin and looked at her lips licking his own. He wanted to tease her as much as she was teasing him. Both were playing with each other, exploring what they thought was a dream. Their minds were foggy but their aim was clear. He captured her lips and felt hers curl up. He placed his left hand on her cheek and kissed the other. He then kissed her cheekbone and then neck. She sighed in a delicate high voice. The dryad continued his trail and lowered the red fabric gaining more area of bare skin to kiss.

Merida’s back arched up when he reached a sensitive area. Her hand grabbed his hair. She let out a faint moan when she felt his tongue against her skin. “Mh, not fair.”

An alarm went off in his head. Even though his mind was muddled, his concern still won the upper hand. “You want me to stop?” his hand had stopped right under the fabric near her breast.

“You know what I want?” she pulled him up to meet her gaze. She loosened his clothes and started kissing is chest continuing to take off his clothes. She drew him to her. Whatever was influencing her mind, she was making irrational decisions and yet they seemed so logical. Something she’d come upon in dreams. Though this seemed another one of them. Whichever risk she took here, would it really have its consequences? “I want your bare skin against mine.” She whispered in his ear.

Her words sent chills down his spine. Jack froze and stuttered his next words. “I-I’m all yours.”

She was waiting for him again. Gesturing him to come closer. Perhaps Jack was on top but Merida clearly had the control. Their lips clashed against each other. His cold skin met her warmth, he gave in under her touch. Gods, she was beautiful. Merida didn’t give him the chance to say it out loud as he suddenly felt his sex rub against hers. The demigoddess let out a muffled moan against his lips.

Gods, she was driving him insane. He moved his waist against hers. Was she wet?

She wrapped her arms around his neck. _Do it already!_ The voice in her head screamed.

The wine had certainly rose to their heads. After a few minutes, they had no clue what they were doing and often started randomly laughing while still in each other’s embrace. Jack carefully inserted into her. As slow as he could to study her every reaction. He focused his eyes on hers. It annoyed the redhead so she caught his lips and pulled him close to her so he had no choice but to blindly make his way inside her.

Jack felt her legs wrap around his waist as he went deeper. He felt her occasionally shudder under his movement so he halted his actions. “Am I-“ he swallowed with great difficulty. “Am I hurting you?” he managed to get those words out through his fuddled mind.

She caressed the back of his head and looked up at him lovingly. “No.” she lied. She could handle it. She moved her waist up and received a loud moan from him.

Hey companion pushed himself deeper until he felt their bodies were fully connected. He repeatedly breathed out her name as if he was praying to an altar. He embraced her until there was no space left between them. Gods, she was warm and wet. He loved her body, her touch, her voice. Even the pain she was giving him with her nails scratching his back. He loved all of her.

Merida slowly felt the pain disappearing and moaned his name when he started pumping. Her nails dug in his flesh causing bruises on his skin.

Jack had no more idea of where he was or what time it was. All that mattered was her. Feeling her, hearing her, adoring her. No nymph, god or queen could ever live up to her. This night, she was a beautiful goddess to him and he was sure to treat her like one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just remembered I'm terrible at writing these kinds of scenes, I sincerely apologize.  
> okay, now Ke$ha's 'Your love is my drug' is stuck in my head, and I can't avoid the next chapter being full of references to the song. because it fully applies to this crappy fanfic


	13. So, what now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which it's noticeable I wanted to skip the angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me for taking so long, but it's finally here and I promise chapter 14 won't take long

"Yo noooo, my baby's getting laid!" Jackson cheered. How long had they been sitting here? A few hours? Jackson had found himself getting attached to the anxious Athenian character and after a while started to see him as his son, his baby cinnamon apple, in his tumblr-like imagination.

Hiccup held the book far from him. "Oh god, they're having sex."

"WOOH!" He threw his fists up in the air.

Meri suddenly flew over the leaning of the couch and reached out for the textbook. "Let me read!"

Hiccup pushed the book to his chest. "Why would you-?!" He quickly scanned the page where he stopped reading out loud. The moment the two demigods started to take their clothes off. "It's so detailed, what the hell? Who writes these kinds of things?!" AND why was Meri interested all the sudden? 

 _Note to self, thank Punzie for the suggestion and ask if you can keep the book._  Jackson thought. 

"I am not going to read this out loud." Hiccup refused.

Meri snatched it out of his hands. She'd been following the telling of the story from afar and had been inching closer and closer. She walked around and dropped herself on the couch next to Jackson who was new to this kind of distance between them. She smirked at the book. "Oh, he's going for it alright."

Jackson leaned over her shoulder. "It's so strange. It's writing like an epic but it's just pure smut at this point."

"Kind of makes it better." Meri glanced at him.

He nodded in agreement.

Hiccup coughed loudly interrupting their strange moment. "You two want the whole story, don't you?"

Meri and Jackson nodded in unison.

He sighed and gripped the book out of Meri's hands. "Fine, but we're skipping the sex-scene!" He pointed at them with an attempt to make his deadliest face.

They both dropped their hands and sighed exaggerated. "Not cool, bro." Jackson really wanted to hear Hiccup narrate that kind of scene, it would have been hilarious.

* * *

 

 

Rays of sunlight lit up the environment, noises of birds and the sound of wind began to fill the woods. The forest was awakening.

Merida wasn’t a morning person. Well, maybe when she got up, she was up and running. But it was the actually getting up part which was the hardest. She let out a tired moan and straightened her position. Within seconds, Merida remarked the warm flesh under her finger tips. Her hand resting on someone’s bare chest. The redhead slowly opened her eyes to look into a pair of dark blue ones. She stopped breathing when the realization hit her.

Jack was the first to push her away. They both screamed and covered their bodies with their clothes. The son of Athena cursed loudly. If he was right, it meant both demigods had just lost their virginity.

Merida felt her heart pumping outside of her chest, her shoulders still hunched, her eyes narrowing down. _Shit, shit, shit._

The Athenian was the first to speak. “W-what did we do?” he managed to get out in a hoarse voice.

The archer refused to look up at him. She pressed her lips together for a moment. “I don’t know. Do you remember-?”

“I don’t remember shit.” Jack cut her off. The only thing he found in the back of his mind were blurry visions and few feelings. Strong feelings. Feelings he was afraid off had come out.

Merida felt her hands trembling and attempted to hide it from him. “My father is going to kill me.” She murmured to herself.

He heard. “You mean ME.” Jack yelled with an angry voice. He was panicking. Not that the anger was directed at her. He was angry with himself. How could he had let it come so far? Snippets of memories slowly returned without any help. _How could this have happened?_

 _I am not going to let that happen_. She thought. Her mind was racing. Searching for some clue. The only thing she could come up with was that she made the first move. Oh gods, what had she done?

“Do…you need to get dressed?” he suddenly asked noticing Merida still hadn’t looked up at him the moment they’d pushed the other away.

She nodded silently and waited until she heard him move. She stood up, her legs weak and putt on her tunic as fast as she could. She noticed Jack, his back turned to her and his blue tunic already on, picking up the bottle of wine.

“I don’t think we drank any wine.”

“What is it?” she struggled to put on her sandals and hesitantly stepped closer to him.

“Lotus.” He grunted softly. “I’ve seen witches use it to manipulate men or something but all I know  it uses your emotions to keep you in a sort of excited state or urges deeper feelings to come out and… oh, oh no.” _Shut up, Jack._  He thought. _Did I do something horrible to her?_   His heart stopped beating for a moment. He jumped when he felt her warm hand on his neck.

Merida halted her hand mid-air when his eyes found hers for the first time since they’d panicked, she held his gaze for seconds. The silence was terrifying. He had dark marks and scratches on his neck and shoulders, some of them possible bitemarks. Where those hers? If he was right about the lotus, did she hurt him?

“Why didn’t you stop me?” she said out loud before she could stop herself. She felt herself step back when he stood up.

Jack frowned at her. What was that supposed to mean? The Athenian inside of him had hidden in a corner. He couldn’t come up with the right response to her question so instead he stayed silent, trying to search an explanation in her eyes. He found fear. He felt himself sink into a dark pit. What in the underworld had happened?

She suddenly shook her head at him, evidently fighting back her tears. “This should not have happened.”

Jack’s eyes widened. _No._ “Merida, wait.” He reached his hand out to her. “Please.”

“I’m sorry.” Merida quickly turned her back to him and started sprinting.

The winter spirit didn’t hesitate for a second and initiated pursuit. “Merida!”

* * *

 

 

Her head was pounding, the lump in her throat made it hard to breathe. Jack’s yells had died out but she kept running. She wasn’t used to running away from her problems. She faced them head first. Only, this was different. Someone else got hurt in the process and she couldn’t stand to look him in the eye a single second more after she saw what she did.

The Spartan was suddenly swept off her feet by a sudden wind. Next thing she knew Jack held her firmly in his arms. Her head pressed against his chest. Merida could hear his heart beating at a worrying pace. Then he spoke.

“Please, don’t run away from me.” He whispered softly in a broken voice. “If I did something to you, please tell me. I didn’t mean to- I-.” his words died out when she pushed herself deeper in his embrace.

 _You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t._ She couldn’t get herself to speak. Fighting back her tears was hard enough. Gods, this was a mess.

Her silence was torture but at least she didn’t push him away. “At least, let me help.” He took her hands in his urging her to look up at him. With one hand, he tapped her on her belt and made it glow.

Merida flinched when she saw the metal sparkle.

“A disguising spell, learned it from Hermes. Ares won’t know a thing.”

Merida nodded silently and tried to show a grateful smile but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. “Why are you helping?” she asked instead.

He looked at her with shock in his eyes. What kind of question was that? “Because, I…” his eyes shot down at the ground and back up to meet hers. “Why? Do you have any regrets?”

 _Please, don’t ask me that._ Why did she destroy everything she touched? Her eyes drifted away from his to the bruises on his neck and shoulders. He noticed. “This shouldn’t have happened.”

“Why are you saying that?!” Jack suddenly raised his voice, scaring even himself.

Merida shook her head at him, this was a wreck. “Just look at you! Why would you want to help me after what happened!” she loudened her voice to match his.

“Because I care about you!” he yelled. 

“So you don’t have any regrets?!” _I’ve hurt you. Why aren’t you running from me?_

Jack didn’t look away from her and carefully inched closer to her until he could feel her warm breath on his skin. He slowly shook his head. Why would he regret finally sharing his feelings with her? A small voice in his head thought differently. Because there was always the chance she would reject them.

Merida held her breath and noticed his cheeks were already wet. She pulled her hands back and felt herself stepping away from him. “I’m sorry. I need to go.”

Jack shook his head at her. _Please, don’t._

Merida turned away from him for the second time and started running. This time Jack stayed motionless. Pinned to the ground he stood with eyes closed and clenched fists. This wasn’t happening. How could one night destroy everything they’d worked on?

He grabbed his staff and slammed the end on the ground. Dark clouds formed around him, wind started soring and rain fell from the sky in a hard storm. Jack stayed still like a statue, gazing out before him. He breathed heavily ignoring the rain drowning him in his own thoughts.

This was his scream.

Oh Athena, what had he done?

* * *

 

 

Merida stopped herself before entering the temple of Ares. Her muscles felt sore from running, her cheeks were finally dry after letting out what she had been holding back. She really hoped Jack’s spell had worked. For a second, she glanced over her shoulder in the direction she had come from. She worried about him.

Her father’s voice scared her out of her thoughts. “Where were you?”

If there was another thing Merida was afraid of, it was setting off her father’s rage. His dark eyes looked down on her. “I encountered some trouble.” She lied.

He raised an eyebrow at his daughter. “Care to elaborate.”

“I-I fell down a hole and twisted my leg. I had to wait until I got some sunlight to crawl out.”

“You seem fine now.” he didn’t seem to believe her and quickly remarked her red eyes.

Merida avoided his glare and sniffed briefly. “Because I waited. It’s fine now, okay? I’m here. What’s the problem?”

The god eyed her. What kind of backtalk was that? He pushed her sword in her hands. “You’re late for your training with Artemis. Go!” he yelled at her angrily.

Merida shrunk and hurried herself to the nearby training field.

His daughter seemed more agitated today. Whatever happened clearly had sparked something in her and it wasn’t good. Ares carefully watched her training. Merida fought of two male soldiers twice her age. The task usually wasn’t difficult but this time he noticed a hint of pure fury in the way she fought. Instead of using her opponent's strength against them like she usually did, she let out her rage on them causing severe wounds to the soldiers. Something was on her mind. Something heavy.

Her two brothers sat next to him. Unfortunately, his two sons inherited both Aphrodite’s desires as well as the mindset most male Spartans inherited from their parents. Which made them quite – how did Merida putt it?- sexist. Ares knew his daughter had the complete opposite mindset. Merida honoured respect and more importantly equality and female power, like his amazons. One of the sole reasons why Artemis was her role model. But family was family, and both parts of his descendants kept their opinions partly to themselves.

Without warning, Deimos made a remark about a woman he had his eyes on. Phobos asked if she showed interest in him.

His brother shrugged. “Does that matter?” he grinned.

Ares’ eyes shot at Merida who had halted her fight. She took her short blade and threw it towards Deimos. It pierced the wooden wall, the blade inches away from his nose. Deimos looked terrified at the iron.

Phobos glared at his sister. “Merida, what in the underworld?!”

Merida opened her mouth to yell something but waved it away and stormed out of the arena.

The Spartan princess stopped herself at a big puddle on her way home and looked at her reflection. She was disgusted her actions. Could the lotus really have dragged out the Spartan traits she detested? Could she really have forced herself on him?

Merida felt the need to wreck something. The first thing she saw was a small carriage. Her conscious had gone quiet. She formed a fireball in her hand and threw it. The wooden construction was instantly destroyed and turned into ashes.

Letting out her rage like this wasn’t healthy her father had taught her. Only now, it felt somewhat relieving. Back home, she sat down and combed back her hair. This was a curse, wasn’t it? She was crashing, she was craving him and not in a lustful way. She just needed him and fast. Why wasn't she herself? Any normal person would have panicked in that situation, she just needed to get home and get things sorted. However, her training had made her more agitated.

* * *

 

 

Jack awkwardly pulled the fabric around his neck and shoulders. He’d made a deal with his mother that if he wanted to stay in human form he had to wear sophisticated clothing similar to the Athenian senates. The sandals felts horrible but his mother had insisted. At this state, he was prepared to do anything to avoid her questions about his sudden bruises.

He hadn’t remarked it himself until his mother had pointed them out two days ago. Jack had rushed home and rapidly looked at his reflection in the water. He had scratches and blue bruises on his skin. He swore a silent scream had enacted from his throat. Was this why Merida wanted to run from him? Was this the reason why she couldn’t look at him? Had the lotus hit her that bad that she wanted to hurt him? Was there some part of her that still hated him?

His logic put it otherwise. If the lotus would’ve gotten that out, he should be dead or severely wounded. But he wasn’t. These were small marks. Small bruises he recalled he didn’t mind receiving. He remembered it kind of exciting him. So why did he have them?

He needed help or just some sleep. He paced through his house rubbing over the bruises on his shoulder. He missed her already. Not her touch or anything in particular, he just missed her. Her laugh, he constant pushing, how her eyes always looked up at him like she was daring him.

 _Or maybe this is just a sick obsession._ He thought and the lotus had only made it worse. Going to sleep could make it worse. He was already seeing her in his dreams, imagine what last night’s happenings could have constructed. Maybe he could ask Aphrodite for help? No, that was making desperate calls.

Gods, he should’ve listened to Hicc’s advice. Spartans were bad news, then again Aphrodite was the one who told him to go on his feelings. Hicc told him to think twice, only he didn’t stop him. He told him he was crazy, that his judgements were getting hazy. To be honest, Jack was starting to doubt himself. Perhaps too late, he realized he was addicted, that this was a wreck and he was left to his own devices.

“What did I bring myself into?”

The son of Athena had stayed up all night occasionally hitting his head against a wall not being able to putt her out of his mind.

Jack ignored the gods on the Olympus lost in his thoughts. There was only one way of getting the truth and that was asking her.

* * *

 

 

Ares kept himself busy with other gods. The Olympus was enormous and easy to get lost in. Merida wondered around until she saw a large table where a group of immortals played their own game. _Guide the mortal._ She knew the game but never played it. Simply you received a pion which was a human by your choice and you could choose to either lead them into despair or help them achieve their goals like most of the Olympian gods could do on a regular basis.

Rapunzel, a daughter of Apollo, remarked her watching the game from afar. The two hadn’t met but both knew the reputation of the other. She waved excitedly. “Guys, I’ve found our twelfth player!” she yelled joyfully.

Merida froze.

Rapunzel gestured the Spartan warrior to come sit next to her at the large table and handed her a pion. “Your human is named Miron.”

Ares’ daughter nodded confused. Taking the little piece in her hand. She placed it in Spartan ground on the map. She quickly heard a few other demigods moan.

“She’s not even immortal, Rapunzel.” One objected.

“She’s Ares’ kid for Zeus’ sake!” another one nagged.

Another low voice cut them off. “Let her. She’s just like any one of us.”

Her blue eyes shot up at him. Right across from her at the table sat Jack. He threw her a wry smile and then broke off eye contact.

“Besides if anyone can beat you guys, it’s her.”

The rest of the group went silent. Merida took it as her starting cue. She looked back at Rapunzel who clearly had taken the position of the leader of the game. “What does my human want?”

Moana, a daughter of Poseidon, picked a golden cart for her. “To find true love.”

Merida leaned her chin on her hands. “Can I ask Eros for help?” she received a few odd looks from other players. To their surprise, the daughter of the God of War knew how the game worked. You could ask help from other players.

Eros himself sat next to Moana and pulled a cart from another deck. He hissed at the result. “My arrow hits Miron as he sees a tree. He falls in love with a tree.”

The result got a few laughs from the demigods including Jack. Merida eagerly glanced at him hoping he’d look at her but he seemed to avoid all eye contact with her.

A few other demigods got their turn until it was Jack’s. Rapunzel took the lead again. “Your mortal has been stuck in the underworld for a while. What now?”

Jack focused on the little pion. “What were Kyra’s choices again?”

Eugene, son of Hermes, checked his scroll where he kept the points of the players. “Either she takes the chance to release Cerberus and you have Hades on your tail, she revives an old legend which could be either good or evil, OR she rescues a lost love aka Orpheus style.”

Moana snickered. “He’s not going to go for Cerberus.”

“Still…” Eugene objected. “Rescuing someone like Orpheus failed to do is crazy.”

Merida leaned on the table. “Yes, maybe. But people always do crazy things when they’re in love.”

This time she received his full attention. He seemed to be contemplating while he stared at her surprised by her response. “She’s right. Give my human the third option.”

Eugene grinned at him and rolled a coloured dice. “She succeeds! Their quest is complete. Jack wins again!”

The rest of the demigods moaned irritated and folded their carts on the table.

Jack stood up and bowed elegantly welcoming their complaints. He threw his pion on the table and all the sudden excused himself.

A few other players sat back down and Rapunzel redistributed the cart decks. Merida refused when the blonde wanted to hand her a new pion. She rapidly stood up and rushed towards a corner on the Olympus she knew few gods came upon. It didn’t have the best view of the sunset. But it was quiet and she had a hunch he would be there.

* * *

 

 

Jack needed to clear his head. Yesterday’s thoughts still bothered him even after winning his sixth game in a row. He just couldn’t help it. Lotus was a dangerous thing to mess with and he was afraid it had brought out the worst in him. He groaned rubbing his eyes and leaned his elbows on his knees. _I can’t get her out of my mind!_   

“I thought you didn’t like to wear shoes.”

Jack felt himself go numb and hid behind the pillar he was sitting against, even though she obviously knew he was there. He wanted talk to her but somehow, he found himself crawling further away.

Merida let out a huff and grinned sitting at the same pillar on the opposite side.

“I-I don’t. Mother asked me to.”

“You weren’t there yesterday.”

“I’m sorry, I thought you didn’t want to see me.” He whispered loud enough for her to hear. He was supposed to train his sword-fighting skills with her. But he figured the circumstances they were in, she'd probably didn't want to see him.

“I was worried.”

Seemed like he was wrong. “You were?” he really wanted to look at her but he felt himself still being unable to move. Something about facing her again since their last encounter scared him.

“I talked to Eros.” She suddenly said.

Jack frowned. What did he had to do with it?

“He said lotus can cause impulsive behaviour if it's mixed with a working love-arrow.”

Jack leaned his head against the pillar, closed his eyes and let out a trembling sigh. “I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t mean to do anything… like that.” What was he supposed to say to all of this?

“Me neither.”

The Athenian shot up at those words and looked around the pillar to look at her. “You got hit? When?”

The redhead chuckled weakly at his reaction. “Can we just lay everything on the table?” It would be easier for them both.

He nodded breathlessly and moved further so he could sit right next to her.

Merida opened her mouth to say something when they heard yelling above them. On a higher level of clouds were the Olympian gods having a discussion. Ares was yelling at his sister.

"At least I don't hide behind closed doors when my soldiers are out their fighting for my cause."

Jack felt the lump in his throat slowly disappear. "Well, your father has got a point."

"Keep yelling, I'm sure down under the earth's crust Hades hasn't heard you yet!" Athena screamed back at him.

Merida looked up irritated. "Your mother isn't wrong either." She admitted. Ares could throw an annoying tantrum occasionally but luckily never directed at his daughter. She noticed Jack had been staring at her. "I ask first." She insisted.

He nodded.

"How in the underworld did we get lotus in our hands?"

"I think we already know how." He briefly looked up at the clouds on which he knew his mother was standing. "I really hate how she plans things out, but I don't think she knows with who I drank it." He looked to her.

"Let's keep it that way."

"My turn." Jack folded his arms and directed his eyes to the ground. "Why didn't you tell me you were hit by a love-arrow?" He briefly glanced up.

"Because it worked. It hit me and it hit me hard." She confessed. It was Merida's turn again. "Did I hurt you?"

 _Physically or mentally?_ She probably meant the bruises. "A little." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and glimpsed at her eyes. His answer wasn't well received. His hand quickly flew to her shoulder. The redhead frowned at him. "I didn't mind though!" He added hoping it would reassure her. "I think I actually encouraged you to go for it." That wasn't a lie. "I... I liked it." He managed to push those last words out. Which felt both relieving and frightening.

Her reaction wasn't what he expected. She raised an eyebrow and showed a confused but at the same time amused expression.

Jack cleared his throat and leaned back against the pillar. "Let's just get to the head of things."

She smiled in agreement.

"We had sex." He stated.

 _That's a way to put it._ Merida snorted and covered her mouth too late to hide her reaction.

Jack dropped his hands and turned his full body to her. “Was that a mistake?”

“To be honest, I don’t know.” Her eyes were locked on his now. It dawned on her that his eyes held a darker shade of blue whenever they were alone and she held his full attention.

He had to risk it. Right now, both were still being unclear about their own feelings. Although, Jack refused to confess his out loud at this point. “Can we still be friends?”

She let out a deep breath. “No.”

Jack closed his eyes for a second to be alone with his thoughts. Of course, that was her answer. He was surprised when he felt her warm hand on his cheek. His eyes flashed open and looked right in hers. Gods, her eyes up this close reminded him of a clear blue sky.

She looked down at his lips and then back up at him.

_Is she going to-?_

The first touch of her lips was gentle and warm. Jack’s eyes shut, he softly placed his hand in her neck and slowly kissed her back counting every second of contact. Merida slowed her second kiss and opened her mouth slightly to deepen it.

Jack felt himself being carried away, let his arms wrap around her and his hands push her against him. The redhead leaned against him her hand cupping his face. He felt her chest heaving.

She kissed him tenderly and slowly eased in his embrace. Merida was never the one to think ahead. Every moment with her was proof she went with her impulses. She wasn't afraid of any consequences, she could face them all head first. He believed that.  However, not if someone else was at stake. That, she'd proven too. 

It got warm fast between them. The slow kisses were far worse than the rash kissing he remembered from their night. Even without lotus, she was already bringing his head into the clouds and his heart racing. 

_Yes, ‘friends’ would be the wrong term to describe it._

The Athenian was the first to break contact. He leaned his forehead against hers. They were so screwed.

Merida smiled at him and fondly caressed his cheek. He was glowing. She leaned back in to kiss him and flinched when she heard someone calling her name.

"Merida?"

She recognized Eros' voice. She quickly grabbed Jack's shoulders. "Hide. Now." She fixed her eyes from one pair of white wings to the other.

Eros folded his arms and gave her a stern look. "I've been searching for you. It's getting heated up there and your father wants to leave."

The Spartan quickly glanced over her shoulder and spotted the white owl nowhere. She got startled when Eros grabbed her wrist. "Did you hear me?"

She pulled back her arm. "Yes, I did. I'm coming."

He frowned. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, not thanks to you." She sneered at him. She straightened her clothes and rushed back into the gathering to meet up with Ares. She kept her hands behind her back and took a diplomatic stance hoping tumult of the gods would mask the insane beating of her heart.

In owl form, he landed on the shoulder of his mother and silently watched as he saw Merida joining the rest of Ares corpus. Her hands behind her back, back straight and her cheeks still red.

He looked back at his mother who had restrained herself from yet opening war of her brother's empire. Fortunately for him. Jack started to doubt everything that had happened. Athenians, more importantly, those loyal to Athena, were very stoic and strict. If Athena wanted him to obey the rules according to her plan, then why did she use lotus? Perhaps, the answer led beyond that. If Jack had intoxicated himself with the lotus with someone else, then the situation would have been different. If his mother had discovered, he would be surely stuck to that certain person or said person to him. Even worse, a possible extension of her lineage. His nightly eyes shot to Merida. They had a lot to worry about.

* * *

 

 

Merida jogged through the woods in her light armour. The fresh and cold air did wonders. The rush was worth it. Every acceleration in her speed made her feel more alive. The green of the leaves passed beside her in a blur and after a while she stopped running, her chest heaving. Her warm breath turning into damp because of the morning's cold. Her right hand held her bow.

"So, what now?"

He stood in the middle of the ruins dressed in his new Spartan-like armour. He looked up from the familiar journal and chuckled, in his left hand he held his staff. He put away the journal and extended his hand out to her.

"We run."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know?   
> commenting on a writer's material can actually engage a faster update *wink wink*


	14. Time is running out.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for some fluff... well kinda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *crawls out of her cave before the big University monster will pull her chains*  
> I have no idea if people were still waiting for the next chapter and it didn't really keep me motivated to finish the chapter. But I owe it to you guys to finish this story and I will. So enjoy this one.

Never had he run so fast and so much.

He hated it.

Jack came to a halt at the enormous gate overrun with poison ivy and other green. The Athenian exhaled heavily and leaned on his knees out of breath. He never wanted to run, ever again.

Merida had been waiting for him leaning against the old gate.  She snickered at his exhaustion. “You said you wanted to run.”

“I meant it figuratively. Like in a romantic way. Not this….” He inhaled deeply. “This is torture.”

“You’re just used to flying, snowflake. Sometimes you need to keep your feet firmly on the ground.” She walked over to him and pecked him a kiss on the cheek.

The demigod shot her a small smile and looked back at the building. Fortress to be exact. “This used to belong to Phobos?”

“I’ve never set foot in it. He abandoned it decades ago. He doesn’t like to be in one place for too long.” She started to pull off the poison ivy off the gate.

Jack stared at the complex. It was big enough to fit a whole legion in it. “How in the Underworld, did you manage to find it?”

“Old maps.” She answered briefly throwing another piece of the plant on the ground. She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Trust me, it’s safe and it’s perfect for your plan.”

“Our plan.” He corrected her.

“Yes, our plan.” She came back down and cleaned the dirt from her hands. She walked to him and placed her hand on the Spartan armour he was wearing. Their gazes soon found each other and she kissed him.

Jack let out a nervous laugh once her lips let go of his.

“You’re nervous?”

“I’ve always been nervous around you. I just learned to hide it very well.” He touched her lower lip with his thumb very lightly. “Not needing to hide it… I’m just not used to it yet.”

“We need to change that.” She grabbed the back of his neck and gave him a slow and passionate kiss.

Jack returned to kiss but lost his mind once he felt their tongues connecting. He pulled back and walked to the gate without a word.

For a moment, Merida felt disoriented. What did she do wrong?

“Are we going to open this gate or not?” He shouted back at her.

_Am I the only one who noticed something happened?_ Merida started to get frustrated with him. This hadn’t been the first time Jack turned from hot to cold in just the blink of an eye. She decided to let it go for a while.

The demigods walked up to the gate and started pushing against the large wooden construction. Using her magic, they could enter the fortress in a matter of seconds.

“This will do.” Jack remarked after he’d paced through the large courtyard in the centre of the construction.

Merida sighed relieved and took his hand in hers.

Jack pulled back and walked back inside.

The Spartan crossed her arms and shot him an angry look. What was it that he wasn’t telling her?

 

* * *

 

**312 years ago**

 

Jack was met with a cold wind. They had been a month on this ship, entering the harbour just in time when the winter started. Hesitantly he followed his father off the ship onto the docks. The man firmly held his son’s hand as if afraid to lose the child once he stepped foot on this new land. Their master ordered them to load out the baggage off the ship which the boy could not yet understand.

Jack looked up to meet his father’s gaze. He couldn’t understand what the man said but knew whenever he talked to them his father obeyed. Jack couldn’t understand a word of it, he hated the language. Luckily for him, his father always translated it to his son in their original Gaelic vocabulary.

“He wants us to get his things from the ship.”

Jack nodded silently. It had been a year since the red ghosts had burned down their tribe and captured Jack and his family. They sold his mother to someone else, his father had fought to keep his wife but the red ghosts threatened to kill his son if he ever tried to struggle against them. After those events, Jack travelled with his father to an unfamiliar country where he was met with a different culture, language, and people. His new life consisted of being a servant to a middle-aged man who always looked like he had consumed too much wine. If only his father had told him they weren’t servants, they were slaves. Jack was only twelve.

The boy noticed the change of demeanour of his father. He looked like he was up to something.

“Papa, what are you thinking?” Jack followed him as they carried a few bags and boxes off the ship.

His father’s eyes scanned the docks. Compared to the Roman Empire, his master’s forces were smaller here. More fragile. Perhaps…  His thoughts were interrupted by a loud thud.

Jack had dropped a heavy box, which was now broken. The Roman barged towards them and grabbed Jack’s wrist scolding him for the accident.

The boy cried apologizing for his actions in his own tongue. “You’re hurting me!” he tried to pull back his arm but the man tightened his grip hard enough to leave bruises on the boy’s skin.

Through the blurry vision of his tears, Jack saw how his father took a wooden plank and knocked out their master. The man fell unconscious on the ground. The two slaves looked around them seeing the Roman guards grab their weapons. They were ready to punish Jack’s father for what he’d done.

The Gaelic grabbed the sword from his master’s belt and yelled at his son. “Run!”

Jack rubbed the painful area around his wrist. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Run, Jack. I’ll find you. Whatever you do, don’t let them catch you.”

The boy started running. The tears were now running down his cheeks as he heard clashing iron behind him. He started running into the streets and slowly the harbour was replaced by a city. Jack encountered a new civilization, a different skin tone and yet another new language. He ignored their gazes on him and kept running. He felt his stomach turn and his legs burning, but he couldn’t quit. He heard yelling from the guards so he tried speeding up and run into the mass to lose them.

He couldn’t keep this up. His legs were hurting too much. He stopped at a building with a structure he recognized from his time in the Roman empire and ran inside. He ran up to a large statue of a beautiful woman holding a spear. In the distance, he could hear the guards searching for him. Jack climbed up the pedestal and hid behind the statue. He waited until he couldn’t hear their voices anymore. After an hour of patiently waiting, hoping to see his father show up at the temple, he stood up and walked outside. He looked around weary ready to run if he saw their red uniforms. Jack walked through the strange looking crowd. He was afraid to open his mouth or ask any of them for help. He couldn’t understand these new words and they probably wouldn’t understand his. Would they even help him if he asked? What if they imprisoned him like the red ghosts did?

All of sudden, Jack noticed woods painted white by the snow in the distance. A thought crossed his mind that if his father would notice it he as well would try and hide there. They could find each other and continue their escape together. He started jogging towards the trees not noticing two Roman guards following him.

The young boy felt relieved once he saw nothing but white all around him. The snow felt cold to his feet, but it reminded him of his homeland. Winter had felt so far away. He was safe. He heard a branch crack and was surprised by a red guard grabbing his arm.

He threatened Jack with Latin words and tried to force him down on his knees.

Jack managed to slip his arm out of the man’s grip and started running further into the woods. The cold air against his skin started to hurt. The boy tripped and lost a sandal. He stood up and kept running. He would keep going even if it meant he had to go barefoot. He encountered a lake completely frozen over. At the other side, he noticed a woman he recognized to be the statue he hidden behind in the temple. But she looked too real to be the same woman. “Please, help me.” Jack pleaded.

The woman stepped on the ice and reached out her hand to him. “It’s okay, come towards me.”

He could hear her strange words, they were different than his but by some kind of magic he understood what she said.  “B-but what if the ice breaks.”

“It won’t.” she assured him. She shot a smile at him which encouraged Jack to step onto the frozen water in the same way she did. 

Just as he’d set a few steps onto the lake he heard the two voices from the guards. One of them reached the lake and saw Jack in the middle of it. He grinned like a predator. “Such a shame.” He slammed his weapon into the ice creating a crack that lead up to Jack’s feat, breaking the vast ground beneath the boy’s feet.

Before he could blink, Jack was embraced by the cold water. He felt his body going numb and the darkness taking his vision as water filled his lungs.

Athena glared at the soldier who seemed satisfied with what he had done. She stepped onto the cold water as if it was the floor of her temple and pointed her spear at him. “What kind of monster pushes a child into death’s embrace?”

With her words the Roman guard was filled with fear, her magic made it impossible for him to move. With one flick of her hand, her magic snatched his neck. His lifeless body crashed onto the ground. _May Hades have mercy on your soul._  

She moved her attention to the boy in the river. She reached her hand into the cold water. “I can help you.” 

* * *

 

 

Jack woke up with the sight of a full moon and a sudden headache. He felt a warm hand on his arm and looked up to meet the eyes of a beautiful woman with white locks and almost colourless eyes. He noticed a hint of blue in them. Her smiled eased him.

The boy tried to remember what happened but was met with nothing but blank thoughts and darkness in his mind. He had no memories. He couldn’t recall anything.

“W-where am I?” he asked.

The woman helped him up and cleaned the snow from his clothes. “My home.”

Jack swiftly scanned the area around them. In the distance, he noticed a large temple on a hill and in the other direction close to them he noticed a lake with pieces on ice floating in the water as if something had broken through the layer of frost.

“What happened?”

The woman laid her hand on his shoulder and Jack could feel a sudden wave of new energy go through his body. “You fell through the ice and drowned. I saved you.”

“You did?” he looked back up at her. This woman was his saviour.

She nodded wearing proud smile. “You were dead, but I gave you life again.”

Jack was breathless. Her words echoed in his mind. _Back to life._ “I can’t remember anything. Do you know where I belong?” She was his saviour, she had to hold answers.

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, child. You were all alone. I don’t think anybody is searching for you.” She lied.

A wave of sadness hit him. The tears started coming uncontrollably. He didn’t know who he was, where came from or if someone missed him. He was alone. It was the worst feeling in the world to him.

The woman kneeled and cupped his face wiping away his tears. “Come now, don’t cry. You are reborn, you have a whole new life to live.”

Jack wanted to hide his face behind his hands, embarrassed he was crying so intensely in front of the beautiful woman. “Why can’t I remember?”

Her voice sounded crystal clear. “To live a new life means leaving the old one behind. I’m sorry, but I could not save you in another way.” She pulled his hands away so he had to look at her. “Do you need a home?”

He nodded and sniffed repeatedly.

“You want to come with me?”

The young Jack wiped his tears and snot away with his sleeve. He had a stuffy nose because of his crying, and his throat felt sore. He had trouble speaking to her.

The woman noticed. That familiar and warm smile of her reappeared. She opened her arms to him.

Jack quickly ran into her and hugged the woman tightly. He wanted to go home, but he didn’t know what home was or what it felt like. New tears erupted from his eyes.

The woman patted his head and hushed him. “It’s okay. I’ll take care of you.”

Jack felt at ease in her arms and let out a trembling breath. Why couldn’t he remember anything?

His saviour stood up and took his hand in hers. Her skin was soft and pale just like his own. Had his skin always looked this bright?

“Let’s go.” She pulled him away from the lake.

Jack let her lead him out of the woods. Towards the hill with the giant temple.

“Can you recall your name?”

Inside his empty head, the answer came up to him. As if it was something, he would always know through life and death. His name. Part of his identity. “It’s Jack.” He beamed at the woman. “My name’s Jack!”

She snickered. “Well, hello Jack, I go by the name of Athena.”

That was a beautiful name. Jack thought. He looked at the hill which was coming closer. A new life was coming closer. “Can… can I call you mama?” he asked hesitantly.

Athena seemed to stiffen at his pronunciation of the word. “ _Mother_ will do, Jack.”

* * *

 

 

Athena paced around her empty temple. Her footsteps echoed through the facility. She’d sent out her son for a mission close to her brother’s territory. For the first time in seven years, she was concerned about his safety. Almost nineteen, he had grown up under her roof and Athena had become too attached to the young demigod fearing the day he would leave her to join his father in the afterlife.

She was thrown off guard by a white bird flying into the temple. His wings were painted with red. Blood.

Jack took human form. He could barely stand on his feet as he lifted his head up to his mother showing her the black wounds in chest and stomach the sons of Ares had caused. “Mother.” He muttered out. He attempted to reach out to her but fell backwards.

Athena caught him by his arm before he could hit the ground. “Who did this to you?”

Jack couldn’t answer. The pain was unbearable. Hydra blood had caused it. He wasn’t going to make it.

His mother picked him up with her strength and carried him to a different building containing a private nursery and bed. She laid him down and examined his wounds. She wasn’t going to lose him to Hades. Not yet.

* * *

 

 

“Athena, you know what you’re asking me is against the rules.”

Athena found herself sounding like her brother. “I don’t care about to rules right now.” she grabbed the shoulders of the daughter of Demeter. “Persephone, give it to him. He’s dying.”

“If I give this to him, you cannot reverse its effects. Hades and Zeus are going to be furious.”

“I don’t care about father and that rat.” Athena growled. She kneeled beside the bed and stroke a few white locks behind Jack’s ear. He’d been unconscious for a whole day. He had a fever and severe panic attacks because of the poison. If she waited any longer, she would lose him. She wasn’t going let Hades take him. Jack belonged to her now and she was going to make sure that stayed forever.

The Goddess of Wisdom looked at his face. His eyes were closed but she could see the battle his body was fighting against the toxic fluid in his blood. “Perse, if you do this. I’ll owe you. But please give it to him.”

It felt wrong giving ambrosia to Athena, making it impossible for Jack to ever enter the underworld. It went against her husband’s rules. But Hades often complied when Persephone needed something from him. He loved her too much for it. So if she used a small dose of ambrosia from the Olympus, surely her lover would be pissed at first. But after some time he would see her reasoning. The god of the underworld wasn’t heartless.

The goddess gave Athena the bottle.

The daughter of Zeus ripped it out of her hands and poured it into Jack’s mouth. It took a few moments before it worked its magic.

Jack coughed heavily and jerked up, his hand on his chest.

Athena sighed relieved and caressed the cheek of her son.

The demigod smiled at her confused. “What did you do?”

“I saved you.”

Jack noticed Persephone standing behind his mother. “Oh gods, you’re-“

“Hi, Jack.” She waved shyly at him.

Jack awed her. He could now understand Hades reasons for why he wanted Persephone. She was gorgeous.

The goddess of the underworld turned to Athena. “I’ll remember this.” Gods could only give ambrosia to a mortal in utter necessary occasions. Athena broke that rule.

“I know.” Athena answered without meeting Persephone’s gaze.

* * *

 

 

**Now**

“It’s one thing to call us all at once, but to bring us on Spartan ground…” Nod was frustratingly ruining the wood of the table with his dagger.

“It’s the only way most of our parents don’t discover what we’re doing.”

Eugene’s reaction was snickering at Jack’s statement. “Or it’s because if you bring Merida anywhere else, people will try and kill her.” He received a vile look from the Spartan Princess.

He was right but it didn’t mean Jack would say it out loud. “She’s a great asset to the team. Perhaps you should be glad, Eugene.” He held his arms behind his back. “If it weren’t for our big collaboration, I would have attempted to kill the Spartan myself.” His eyes shot at Merida. His plan had worked. He’d organised a group of demigods who were willing to work with his ideas. Helping people during the war between Athens and Sparta.

One of the few things he had learned: He wasn’t the only demigod with a soft spot for mortals nor was he the only demigod who didn’t listen to their parents. He managed to keep in contact with Eugene, son of Hermes, Rapunzel, daughter of Apollo, Nod, son of Artemis, and Moana, daughter of Poseidon. These four were sitting around a table in front of him. The only little problem was three of them didn’t like Ares, resulting in them also not liking Merida. But they were open to working together since Merida could grant them access to Spartan Ground. To avoid drama, Jack kept his act up of being Merida’s moral enemy as did she. Both figured if the demigods knew of their relationship, the cooperation wouldn’t run as smoothly. They wouldn’t let Jack lead them if they knew he cared more for the Spartan than any other person in the room at this moment.

“An Athenian legion is going to attack here.” Merida stood up and tapped on the location on the map spread out across the grant table. “There is a village here. My father’s troops won’t be there in time to protect them so we have to be there to minimize the number of victims.”

Eugene wanted to make a remark on how that would be her father’s fault when he was cut off by Jack. “Both of our parents are not going to stop. We need to be there when it happens.”

He had the right pawns in his strategy a healer, two archers, two airfighters and a powerful water goddess. He lead out their roles and to his surprise they agreed to his instructions. Guess he gained more skills from his mother than he had expected.

Throughout the siting, he felt Merida’s eyes burning on him watching his every move. Jack struggled not to give in to the urge to look back at her. He couldn’t give her the same kind of attention right now.

He ended the gathering setting on a location for them to meet up again. Moana was the first to rush out. Eugene was the second to leave but not before he attempted a few flirtations with the golden demigoddess.

Merida passed Jack and laid her hand on his arm. Jack remained still and did everything in his power not to meet her gaze, not to give in to her warmth, knowing the two remaining demigods of their team still had their eyes on them.

The Spartan pulled her hand back and sighed leaving him and Rapunzel in the gathering room

* * *

 

 

Nod made his way to the middle field of the fortress the demigods had found.

The Spartan stretched the string of her bow to aim at her target. She hit her target perfectly. Nod swallowed with difficulty. Merida possessed the ability to be an even better archer than him. He almost felt jealous.

He wasn’t a fan of the Spartan demigoddess but the affection his mother felt for her made him more open to working with her. He came to stand next to her and took his own bow to aim at the target next to hers.

“Hi.” He noticed a sly smile on her face when his eyes glanced over at her.

“Hi.” She responded. She shot another arrow straight into the middle of the target.

She seemed a little agitated to Nod. “You couldn’t keep your eyes off of him.” He got straight to the point.

“Who?”

“You know who I’m talking about. You were staring at him as if he was your next meal.” He heard her chuckle softly.

“Is it that obvious?”

“A little.” He lowered his bow. “You looked at him as if he was a bottle of godly nectar. Believe me, I know that look.” Although he didn’t talk to his mother that often, he did follow her example. Staying a virgin. But Nod found it very hard himself to maintain those goals. He knew that look Merida held when she gazed at the Winter spirit. However, there was a small hint in hers that told him she had already tasted the nectar and she wanted more of it. “You already had your taste of it, didn’t you?”

She putt her bow away and glared at him. “Are you going to rat me out?”

“No.” he replied honestly. “I’m not telling. I’m not like that.”

“Thank you.”

“So, I guess you two don’t really hate each other.”

“Not really.” She smiled wryly strapping her bow behind her back. Training here to set her mind off things wasn’t going to work. To add to it, she really needed to work on the whole 'we-hate-eacht-other-act'.

“How in the underworld did that happen? How did he manage to get to you? I mean: you, a Spartan, with him of all people.” It didn’t make any sense. During Jack’s strategies, he had been doing nothing but thinking of a logical reason as to why Merida looked at the Athenian as if he was her last cup of water in the desert. Fortunately, he was the only one to notice it.

“I let him.”

He decided not to question that any further. Love was love. He’d seen it happen plenty. “Did you two already….” He made strange gestures trying to find the right words.

“Already what?”

“You know what I mean.”

“We did. Once.”

Nod was surprised again and again. She didn’t dodge any of his questions, and she didn’t lie. He could tell if she did.

They left the field together. Merida stopped and leaned against the wall. “In strange circumstances that is.”

“You’re not going to elaborate?” What kind of circumstances?

She shook her head. “I’m not telling.” She shuffled awkwardly and looked at the ground. Perhaps it was good to talk with someone about it besides Jack himself. “It’s been weird between us ever since.”

“Is it causing trouble between you two? Because we don’t need that right now if all of us are going to work together.”

“Look who suddenly wants to work in a team.” She grinned at him. The descendant of Artemis had not been the easiest to convince to join them. “But no, there isn’t trouble. I just really want him to… or I just feel the need to….” She couldn’t find the right way to putt it. Eventually she settled on an answer. “I don’t want to pressure him into going too fast.”

“But it’s getting harder, isn’t it?” Nod paused for a moment hoping he didn’t step on a nerve. “No pun intended.”

Merida didn’t suppress a laugh. “It is.”

“I don’t know you two that well. But my mother likes you for some reason. You’re very much alike. So I’m figuring you two have trouble telling each other what’s bothering you.”

Nod had found the exact right reason. It surprised her that she and a son of Artemis hadn’t been friends beyond this point. But he was right. It had been a problem before. Either they didn’t communicate their feelings towards each other or they bottled it up and that had lead towards a lot of fighting. “You think I should tell him?”

“He looks like a guy who listens.”

“He _is_ a guy who listens.” She confirmed. “But things like this often keep sticking in his head, and he starts to worry and he has enough on his mind as it is.” If she told him she’d noticed the new distance between them, he would fret about it. He would start to worry and it would possibly pressure him into doing things he wasn’t ready for.

She wouldn’t do that to him.

“Then do something you’re terrible at. Be patient.” He gave her a playful push and received a punch against his arm in return.

Merida laughed ignoring his moaning about punching too hard and watched as Nod took his own animal form as a bird and flew home. A second power they had in common.

* * *

 

Jack got a little help from Rapunzel to clean up the map and everything on the table they had used to make their plans.

After a few minutes, he noticed the devious smile Rapunzel was throwing him. “What?”

She shrugged. Obviously, still smiling about something. “Nothing.” She paused briefly. “I just think Merida and you don’t need to hide the fact you’re together.”

“Daughter of Apollo.” He chuckled. “I knew I couldn’t hide it from you.”

Her smile didn’t fade. “I don’t need to look into the future to see your feelings for each other.”

“Is it that obvious?”

She sat down on the ridge of the balcony looking over a large forest. “Even Oedipus would notice.” She looked back at him and frowned. She knew something was off during the setting. "There's a distance between you two though. I can sense it."

Jack didn't know where to putt his hands so he eventually crossed his arms. "We started off rather uneasy."

"That's putting it mildly."

"Whatever you know, keep it to yourself." Even Jack remembered barely anything from that particular night. But Rapunzel knew more because she used her powers. Whatever she saw in those visions, he didn't want to hear it. It would complicate things. "I’m just struggling with conveying my feelings for her out loud.”

It was a stab in the dark really. They knew their feelings for each other and their kisses had been rather passionate but Jack had no clue where they stood and where they were heading at this point. They had already shared their bodies once but that didn't mean they were used to it already and he mostly avoided the topic which wasn't a good idea. The fact his hormones started to take more control whenever he was with Merida made it even more difficult. She kissed him? Boom, boner. She hugged him? Boom, erection.  She laughed? You guessed it.

It was difficult because he didn't know how to act with these new feelings. And he didn't want to confront her with it. It already felt so strange between them since they'd confessed their feelings for each other. To add to it, Jack was a total newbie when it came to…well sex. Every poem, every epic, every little prose he’d ever read, couldn’t help him. He had zero idea about what to do. So how was he supposed to engage in it? He’d done it before under the influence of a drug but that didn’t mean he could do it again. He would be fully in control, fully aware, he was going to screw it up.  

Rapunzel pulled him out of his thoughts. “Well, you very clearly confessed your love to her once. You can do it again, right?”

Jack choked on his breath. “Wait, I did?”

“Oh right, my dad erased your memories. I forgot about that for a second. Woops.”

“When did he erase our memories? What happened?!” What had been so important that Apollo had to erase his memories for it?

“Right after he accidentally showed you a confession of Merida telling you that she loved you and you two all dramatically started panicking. He quickly putt a sleeping spell on you before you could blabber out your feelings. He didn’t want Athena on his back. Especially if it had happened in his temple.”

Jack felt a lump forming in his throat. He wasn’t surprised his past self didn’t even hesitate to make sure Merida knew how he felt. But this made him think about a lot of things.

“Well, you told her now, haven’t you.”

Jack’s eyes widened. _Not yet._ “N-no.”

“Well, _do_ you love her?"

It didn’t take more than a second. "I do." He let out a huff. Surprised of himself he didn't even question that statement. He loved her. “Holy gods.” He breathed out. He felt a smile forming on his face he couldn't suppress. "I love her." He whispered to himself still processing the sudden realization. He was in love. A feeling he thought he would never obtain.

He felt something shift in the room. He looked to his right and Rapunzel was gone. He heard something motion behind him and a thud on the ground. Merida had dropped her bag on the ground.

She stood there, caught off guard, staring at him. “You...” she paused taking a step back. “What?”

Jack bolted towards her and embraced her hugging her tightly. He didn’t ever want to lose her, not again, not ever. And now there were no gods that could erase this moment. “I love you.” He whispered softly into her ear.

Merida felt chills going down her spine. She remained silent and let out a trembling breath. Jack suddenly lifted her chin and placed his hand on her neck caressing her cheek with his thumb. His dark blue eyes pierced right through hers. He looked at her as if she was everything the gods had ever made. For a brief moment, she couldn’t breathe.  

He leaned his forehead against hers. “You don’t have to say it back right aw-“

It didn’t take more than a heartbeat. “I love you too.”

His hand slid to the back of her neck. He pulled her against him and kissed her as passionate as he could. Trying to put all his feelings, his desires and heat into this one motion.

Merida returned it with the same fire and thoughtlessly wrapped her arms around his neck closing the space between them.

Jack felt the world around him lightly spinning. The archer kissed him hard and deep. Gods, what in the Underworld was she doing with him? The tingling feeling in his chest grew. Jack pushed her against the table, pressed his waist against hers and gently moved his tongue against her lips.

Merida pulled back flustered and absently touched her lip. She stared at him in the silence. Jack looked stunned, his eyes and body very clearly conveying a message to her. He breathed heavily and inched his lips closer craving to touch hers again. She backed away from his kiss, moved to his neck kissing his pale skin.

A faint moan escaped his lips. Her action was returned with Jack pushing his member against her. Merida felt it through the fabric and curled up in his arms. She pulled his clothing while her right leg moved up his body.

Jack pulled back abruptly. He seemed out of breath. “No, I don’t want to do this.”

The Spartan froze.

“Not here.” He finished. If they were going to do this, he didn’t want it to be in a fortress that once belonged to her brother. It needed to be a place that was special. Like the abandoned ruins in the woods.

She let out the breath she’d been holding. _You make me want to strangle you sometimes._ “My house isn’t far from here.” She hinted.

Jack got her message and grabbed the rest of his stuff. “I’ll race you.” He dared, already backing away to the window.

A foxy smile showed on her face. Jack swore he’d seen that kind of smile before.

“You’re on.”

* * *

 

 

Merida ran as fast as she could. He wasn’t going to beat her. From afar, she could see her house but her vision was suddenly blocked by a white owl. Jack pulled her back into the bushes.

“What the-“

Jack sneered her with an angry look. “Don’t. There’s someone here.” He whispered. He pointed towards her house. A woman with hair as white as snow was standing at her house.

“Who is that?” _And why is she at my house?_

“Sophia. An owl of Athena.”

Merida gaped at him. “Athena’s owl? But you’re-“

“One of her owls.” He corrected her. “She’s my predecessor. Athena saved her once, she became her Owl of Wisdom but they eventually parted ways surprisingly on good terms. All this time, Sophia still stayed loyal to my mother. If she really wants to know something. She calls in Sophia.”

“Wait, why did they part ways?”

“Because of me.” Sophia had to step down because of Jack.

“So you’re not a God of Wisdom?”

“I am… I mean,….we’re both.” Jack grunted frustrated and rubbed his eyes. Sophia and he were mostly just pawns in a game. They were an image people associated with Athena. They themselves weren’t actual gods of wisdom. “My mother didn’t just save my life alone. There were others before me who were saved by her and some of us carry the form of the owl as a result. Think of Sophia as my mother’s tell-tale. She gets information to my mother so she can use it for her plans. Me, I took a different road. My mother’s plans, I mostly..”

“Execute them.” Merida finished. She didn’t like the thought of Jack blindly obeying to Athena’s every word. But she had to accept that there had been a time where he did.

“If Sophia’s here…. That means there is a big problem.” He shared a worrying look with Merida. “It means my mother is making very desperate calls.” It had been centuries since she'd asked for Sophia's skills.

“Big problem.” Merida murmured. “Like in: she knows about us?”

“No, she would have taken you from me a long time ago if she did.” He felt her hand squeezing his. He closed his eyes for a moment. Merida was still here. He was going to make sure it stayed that way.

She suddenly let go of his hand. “I’m going”

“What are you going to do?”

“Either you leave or I distract her. She can’t see you in those clothes.” she gestured to his clothing.

“I’m not leaving you with her.” he was going to stay until he was sure Sophia stayed away from his love.

“Then I’m going.” Merida walked back to the road and slowly approached her house. She took her bow and shot an arrow which hit the wood only a few inches away from Sophia’s face.

The woman looked at the arrow with annoyance. She glared over her shoulder at Merida.

“Next arrow will be through your head.” Merida threatened. “Why are you here? This is my home.”

Sophia sighed. All Spartans were such barbarians. Shoot first, ask questions later. Merida being the literal proof here. “Calm down, Princess of Sparta. I come here in peace.” She kept her hands behind her back and straightened herself. She turned her full body to the redhead. “I’m here searching for the son of Athena.”

Merida didn’t lower her weapon. It angered her Sophia took on the same posture as Jack when he was in a formal position. She spat out a laugh. “And you expect him here for what reason?”

“Believe me, I was doubtful myself. About half a year ago, he didn’t even know you existed.”

“Your point being?”

“Your query with him on the Olympus caught Athena’s eye. Your brothers have attempted to kill him before but failed. She hasn’t heard from him in weeks. I figured perhaps you took matters into your own hands.”

“You think I killed him?”

“Highly doubtful but yet a possibility I considered.” Jack would win in a fight with the daughter of war. However, Sophia didn’t underestimate the girl’s strength whereas Athena did. If the Spartan wanted to she could leave him with severe damage. “Have you seen him?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“I’ve noticed him traveling close to Spartan borders. Perhaps he worked himself into trouble or he came for revenge.”

“On me?”

Sophia nodded. “It’s not his style but again the possibility is there.”

“If he does come here, he will be welcomed with fire to burn his skin and arrows through his chest.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Sophia’s voice remained neutral. Almost cold. “Yet I don’t think he will take that road.”

Merida was too tempted to ask the question. “What other reason would bring him here?”

Sophia’s eyes suddenly locked onto Merida’s. It stayed silent for several seconds. The owl looked at her as if she could strip Merida’s secrets away from her with just a single stare.

Merida attempted to look unreadable and showed no emotion.

Eventually Sophia answered. “Honestly, I don’t know. The very last reason I can think of_“ Sophia halted her sentence and started to chuckle at the moronic idea that Jack had a relationship with this excuse of a demigoddess. “Never mind.” She added. “You would be disgusted even thinking about it.”

_You have no idea._ Merida thought. “If I encounter him, you’ll know.”

“I acknowledge your indifferences with him, Daughter of Ares. But I would prefer it if you leave him unharmed.”

“I can’t promise that.”

“I’ll remember that. Thank you for your time.” Sophia bowed before her, took on her magical form and flew off.

Merida sighed relieved and finally lowered her bow. She looked at the sky towards the direction Sophia had gone making sure the owl hadn’t stayed near to watch Jack walk on Spartan grounds.

She couldn’t find the owl. The door of her house opening caught her eye. Jack gestured her to come in.

“I thought you were going to wait?!” she slammed her door shut.

“You were distracting her. It didn’t feel safe waiting there.” He started pacing through the room. “What did she say?”

“Athena is searching for you. Seems you’ve been absent for a while. Is that true?” Merida crossed her arms and tried capturing his gaze.

“I’ve been avoiding her, yes. Mostly because of what happened with you.” He stopped pacing and finally looked at her. “She already knows too much. The fact she involved Sophia means she’s onto me.”

“You mean us.”

Jack let out a heavy sigh. Why did he drag her into this? “We really have to figure out how we’re going to do this?”

“Why?”

_Your almost nineteen._  His mother tried it decade after decade. He was always almost nineteen. Athena used time against him. To make painful memories and dangerous thoughts fade, so she could start her plans time and time again. The Goddess waited as long as she had to until she would find a match that could make her empire stronger. She ignored his immortality as to create the illusion of time pressing on him. He needed to marry, she said. What she meant was: ‘I need to extend my lineage. Athenian power needs to grow.’

Time didn’t feel real anymore except when it did when he was with Merida.

 “Because I may be immortal but every second with you feels like I’m wasting time.” Merida’s shocked expression only saddened him. “For centuries, I couldn’t feel time passing. My mother even used it to control me. If I didn’t do what she wanted, she locked me away from the world until I didn’t know how long I had been since I stepped foot in the human world. It made me forget so many things. I barely remember how long it has been since I turned immortal. But with you, I can finally feel time pass again.” He could feel it. Every second, every heartbeat, every kiss was one step closer to the end of this. “I feel more human every day I spend with you and I love it but I still can’t get it out of my head that someday I’m going to lose you to Hades himself.” He swallowed the painful lump in his throat. “I’m not prepared for that.”

Jack was met with a tight hug.  Merida wrapped her arms around his neck and pushed their bodies against each other. Jack wasn’t strong enough to keep the tears from streaming down his face. Gods, he loved her so much, it hurt.

  _You enjoy every moment of it._ Her father’s words rang in her ears. “Try to set your mind off it, Jack. Just for a while.” She whispered to him. The demigod’s arms around her tightened as if he was afraid she’d slip away from him. She felt a little struggle when she pulled herself out of their hug to look at him. “I just want to enjoy this while we still can.” She laid her hand on his cheek and received a sad smile from him.

“I’m sorry, it’s been on my mind for a while.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“I need to go to Athens. If I stay away from Athena any longer, she’s going to come looking for me herself.”

Merida started to remark he didn’t call Athens his home anymore. It had lost that meaning a while ago. “Just for once be careful.” She didn’t like it he had to leave, but she agreed with him as to why. Guess their little adventure had to be postponed. She went to stand on her toes and kissed him tenderly.

Jack sighed deeply. “I’ll try this time.” He promised. He stepped back and quickly removed the Spartan armour he had been wearing the whole day.

Merida watched him silently.

The demigod laid the armour carefully on the table and walked towards Merida to kiss her goodbye. She pulled back briefly. “Just because you feel time is running out, doesn’t mean you need to rush yourself into things.”

The Athenian was taken aback for a second. “Merida, what do you mean?”

“You don’t need to do things you don’t want to yet.”

“Are you talking about what happened in the fortress?”

She nodded. “You were caught up in the moment. Before you didn’t seem ready yet.”

Jack took a step closer to her. “I may be unexperienced and unprepared but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to.”

She frowned at him. She wasn’t convinced yet.

_You need proof? Fine._ Jack grabbed her by the waist and pushed her against the nearest wall. He kissed her heavily, again and again giving Merida no chance to say a word. His hand crawled up the small of her back. He felt her arms wrapping around his neck. Jack gathered all his strength to lift her up. Guess his trainings with her had paid off. The Spartan hooked her legs around his waist. Jack closed the remaining space between them. He pulled back from her lips and started kissing her neck. He tightened his grip on her and slowly grinded against her. If she didn’t get the message now, she never would.

In his high, he thought of poem that had been in the back of his mind. A small voice told him to cite it out loud. “Again love, the limb-loosener, rattles me. Bittersweet, irresistible, a crawling beast.” He breathed against her skin between his kisses. He felt her nails digging in his skin.

Okay, now she was convinced. “Jack, you’re not helping.” Merida moaned faintly. Gods, she was turned on. She grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him deep.

Jack’s lips curled up into a smile. He loved having this effect on her. “Neither are you, my love.”

Surprised, Merida let out a faint and short moan against his lips. He’d called her many things but never this. She liked it.

Jack’s muscles started to ache so he gently let her down on her feet. “I’m going to finish this later.” He promised.

The Spartan demigoddess let out a heavy breath.

“You better.”


	15. We're walking the wire.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the fic decides to take a turn real quick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Throws new chapter into the meaningless void.   
> IDK anymore dude, I tried to give it my best shot.   
> Shoutout to my beta though who's still up for reading each new chapter and editing it so I don't make a fool of myself. Who am I kidding? I still make a fool of myself.

Merida never liked stepping foot on the clouds of Olympus. She rather kept her feet firmly on the ground but it had been some time since the last battle between Athens and Sparta. Ares’ daughter had managed to build a camp with the remaining survivors of a village that happened to be situated between the firing lines. Nod and her had functioned as protectors while Rapunzel healed the wounded and the rest made sure the number of victims didn’t increase. It had been an insane few days. Merida still had wounds that were healing. One long cut traced her jawline to her neck.

Both parties eventually retreated which surprised both Merida and her loved one. Their parents weren’t exactly known to quit. Merida had lied to her father she’d fought with his soldiers while Jack had convinced his mother he was fulfilling a mission for her while the battle took place. Unfortunately, Merida hadn’t had to chance to speak to him since then.

Merida accompanied her father and reluctantly remained behind him not being allowed to join the gods at the large table. After a while, she decided to take her distance and watch from afar. Her eyes shot from left to right but she couldn’t find her soulmate anywhere.

Walking up to Athena to ask her where Jack was, wasn’t exactly the smartest plan. A few gods had scattered over the range of clouds. Merida’s eyes locked onto her saviour, Artemis.

Before she could make a move, her father stopped her. Merida froze once she saw to who she was introduced to.

Her father proudly laid a hand on her shoulder. “My king, this is my daughter. Merida.”

The king of Gods smiled down at her but the smile made her uncomfortable, she felt herself shiver. It took her several seconds before something clicked. This was Zeus. She couldn’t be disrespectful especially at her father’s side. She quickly bowed to him. “My lord.” The words tasted bitter in her mouth.

The Spartan warrior wore her silky red dress revealing her bare arms, a naked shoulder and showed more legs than she wanted. Never in her life did she want to wear her armour so badly. Now in particular that she had the eyes of the King of Gods directed at her.

“So, a _mortal_ descendant with so many victories on her list. Impressive and a woman no less! You’re quite extraordinary, Princess Merida.”

“I take great pride in my triumphs, my lord.” Merida regretted making eye contact with him. Something about his gaze on her unsettled her. She had to remain unmoved.

“Normally she prefers to wear her armour.” Her father admitted. “But since she was invited to the Olympus she respects the fact she can’t wear any weapons.”

His daughter awed him. Even opposite of his King, Ares found it necessary to tell him Merida felt uncomfortable in the dress.

“She really is your daughter!” Zeus laughed. “You know what? Since you’ve managed to impress me, you’re allowed to wear armour next time just as your brothers and father. But make them proud, show off that Spartan pride.”

“Yes, your highness.” She bowed again.

The God of lightning and storms left them. Merida could finally breathe again.

Ares wore the proudest look on his face. He beamed at her. “You did well!”  he grabbed her by her shoulders.

Merida forced herself to smile. “Why did you want to introduce me?”

“You received his attention. I thought it was important for you to meet him. You did so well so far. I’m proud of you! Soon you’ll be ready to go on your own.”

“What do you mean, dad?” What kind of a Segway was that?

“You said you felt stuck in Sparta.”

“Dad-“

“No, you’re right. I kept you prison because I was afraid of how the world would handle you. But instead, I made you scared of yourself.”

Merida hadn’t expected for their conversation to take this turn and felt her throat narrowing. He remembered everything she’d told him when she was upset. It touched her.

“But I’ve seen that you’ve managed. You can defend yourself better than any of my soldiers. You’ve made me so proud to call you my daughter so I decided you can leave Sparta if you’re ready for it.”

“Leave to where? To do what?” Merida still couldn’t believe this.

“That’s up to you. You don’t need to live in my shadow, to live my life. You need to live your own.”

Merida ran into to him to hug him. Her action caught the attention of a few Gods.

“But I get to meet your friend since he’ll probably be joining you.”

Merida felt a shock going through her body and pulled herself together before she found herself staring at her father. “He can’t.”

“What do you mean he, can’t?” Ares’ voice grew angry in an instant. “Do you need me to go and convince that bastard?!”

 _Dad-mode activated._  Merida thought. She almost laughed at it. “I mean he wants to but he can’t and I won’t let him either.”

Her father frowned. “Merida, is this serious?”

“I want him to come with but…”

Her father slowly started to understand. “He’s immortal, isn’t he?”

Merida found it difficult to speak. She shook her head vigorously. Her father shouldn’t find out like this. “I want to see the world, dad. But that also means saying goodbye and that’s not something I’m planning to do anytime soon.”

“It sounds like he’s holding you back.” Ares folded his arms. His daughter was independent, she didn’t need to listen to anyone. Not even to him anymore.

“No, he’s not. He’s stuck and I can’t leave his side right now.”

“Merida, now I really want to know who you’re talking about.” He was starting to get curious but nevertheless he respected her secrecy.

“I can’t tell you. I’m not ready for the consequences.” It was unusual for Merida. However, considering she was talking about Jack she needed to think first, act later.

He wanted to know. It was his daughter. He needed to know which damn immortal had the audacity to be _in love_ with his daughter. But something about her last words got to him. She wasn’t ready for history to repeat itself. To suffer the same fate as her father. A part of him wanted to pull the answer out of her. He wanted that coward to come up to him and have the balls to admit he was in love with the daughter of the God of War. On the other hand, Ares knew what Merida was fearing. So he dropped his quest for an answer and decided to help her instead.

“I can’t help you with the immortality issues, Meri. A God can only grant you it if you die or if you are close to death.” But there were some who broke the rules. Immortality could only be granted if approved by either King or Queen of the Gods. And the King of Gods happened to have his favourites, including Ares’ sister.

Merida clenched her fists. “You don’t think I know that?” She and Jack had skimmed over every possibility. Anything that could keep them together. Jack had even dared to suggest Lethe water to which Merida had stormed out, furious that he considered of the idea to forget each other.

 

_They were arguing. Merida was yelling, the tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her hands grabbed her hair, she felt like pulling it out. “Why in the underworld do you think this is a good idea?!”_

_Jack ran after her. The Athenian often let her cool off after an argument but not this time. He ran down the hill, tripped and landed on his face. Merida stopped and instinctively switched directions running to him._

_Jack spit the grass out of his mouth while his love helped him up. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. It was the only possibility I could think off.”_

_Merida cleaned the dirt off him. “It’s Lethe Water, Jack. The fact you even considered it…” She stopped her sentence._

_Jack sat on his knees. He leaned his head against her shoulder. “I’m sorry, my love.” He sighed. “I’m was just thinking out loud. I didn’t mean it like that.” He lifted his head up to look at her. “I don’t want to forget you either.”_

_“Then why even say it?!” She pushed him back._

_The immortal pushed himself up to pursuit. “Merida, please listen!”_

_“No, forgetting each other is not the answer. We’ve risked too much for that. We’ve had too much impact on each other’s lives!”_

_“That’s exactly my point. I don’t want you to live with constant regret. When this is over, I know I’m going to be miserable forever. I don’t want to share that fate with y-“_

_“Regret?!That’s some quality bullshit, Jack!”_

_Jack growled loudly out of frustration. “-would you just let me finish?!” Merida could really make his blood boil. He felt himself getting angry with her. He didn’t want to be angry with  her. He needed to remember that he loved her. That was more important than this. If she didn’t listen, that was fine. He just needed to remind her why he was saying all the wrong things._

**_“_ ** _Oh, don’t you dare interrupt m-!”_

_Jack attempted to kiss her in the middle of her yelling. Which resulted in a failed kiss._

_Merida stared at him perplexed. “What was that?” The Spartan found herself laughing all of a sudden._

_“I tried to…uhm.” He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “I’ll drop it. I’m sorry I even mentioned it. If you don’t agree with it, then we’re not doing it.”_

_She shook her head. “Just the fact that you considered it…” She knew she was repeating herself but she couldn’t set her mind off of it._

_“I’m so sorry.” He just didn’t want her to get hurt in any way. “There’s no need to forget, it was a stupid idea.”_

_“A pretty stupid idea!” The Spartan agreed folding her arms._

_Jack let out a weak and nervous chuckle. “Yeah, you’re right.”_

 

Merida needed to keep her temperament low, she wouldn’t throw a fit like her father. Not here. “We’ve considered everything. The only thing we can do is use the time we have.” She forced back the frustration and left her father with that. She needed some room.

Artemis crossed paths with a steamed Merida. She had planned to throw Merida a deadly stare because thanks to her brother she knew what she and the bloody Athenian did. That changed when she saw the redhead’s red eyes as she stormed passed her straight to Iris.

“Iris, can you bring me down?”

Artemis heard the Spartan sniff and stopped to think for a second. Her eyes shot at Aphrodite. She rushed to the Goddess who was in a conversation with her twin brother. “This is your fault.”

Aphrodite jumped from her reaction but she immediately knew what the huntress was talking about. “I did nothing.” She lied.

“Excuse me? What do love arrows do again?” Artemis attacked her.

“That wasn’t planned.” Aphrodite whispered angrily.

“Are you sure about that? They had sex, Aphrodite. And you want to know where?!”

“Sis.” Apollo stepped in. “Those kids would have fallen in love either way.”

Artemis groaned. _I hate you so much sometimes._ She glared at him. “No, they wouldn’t. This was set up and I can’t believe I helped in it.”

Apollo’s expression turned dark. “Their relationship was woven in the tapestry of fate. They would’ve met one way or another. Fate would’ve pulled them together. The attraction between the two is too strong. I see know that my actions at Delphi were wrong and I tried to undo my mistakes give them more time before everything goes to shit. But _you_ had to speed up the process!” he pointed accusingly at Aphrodite.

The two goddesses gaped at him.

Apollo turned his eyes away from them and held his chin thinking. “I wanted to give them more time.” Time he had stolen in a split second. “Give them time to grow.” He sighed. “There are so many futures containing so much death. But…” his gaze shot back to Aphrodite. “Perhaps you know that and by speeding it up, you actually gave them more time together before they’re separated.” He sighed. Too many gods had meddled with the situation, even Athena had without her knowing.

The goddess shook her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She answered honestly. “I just…” She fell silent for a moment, avoiding Artemis’ gaze. “I wanted them to have what I couldn’t. I wanted to loosen him from his chains.”

“You only made it worse.” Artemis accused her.

Aphrodite stayed silent. She knew what she had caused. One part of her regretted it because she had pushed both of them into a corner. The other part didn’t regret a thing. Jack was free. For now.

 “I needed to meddle, I can’t help it.” Her brother defended himself. “ So leave them be, there will be less death.” He figured if the relationship started sooner, they would have some time before all the misery started. The Sun God had been wrong, so incredibly wrong. He felt bad for Athena’s boy.

His sister rubbed her eyes. Discussing with Apollo’s weird logic always tired her. “I can’t deal with you two right now. This will go wrong one way or another.”

Apollo made an awkward expression. He knew something was coming up. “Just leave them alone for a while.”

Aphrodite shared a confused look with Artemis.

“You too.” He pointed back at the Goddess of Love. “They don’t need you right now.” Apollo was the one who left the conversation. He couldn’t give too much information about the future. Especially because what was coming didn’t look good.

* * *

 

 

Jack was storing a few books back in his personal library when he heard something fall in his hall. He walked into the large room still holding a large pile of books when his eyes fell onto a wolf. His heart skipped a beat. There was a long silence. “Thank the gods.” He mumbled. He dropped the pile of books on the ground ignoring every voice of common sense. He ran to the middle of his hall capturing the girl in his arms. He couldn’t hold the sudden weight and fell on his back.

His flame giggled loudly. Jack brushed the still healing wound on her jawline ignoring the pain in his back. He folded her in his arms, rolled her on her back and brushed her lips.

Merida let it happen, returned the kiss and went through his hair with her hand while the other grabbed his arm. She hummed content. She really needed this.

“Gods, I missed you.” It had been weeks but it felt like decades without her. He leaned on his hands to look at her. He frowned. “You’re not wearing armour.” Briefly, he thought this was another of Aphrodite’s tricks.

She’d missed his voice. Besides, rather than spending her time in Sparta, it was a voice and face she loved coming home to. “You weren’t at the Olympus.”

“Athena doesn’t know what to do with me anymore. She keeps sending me on missions to keep me occupied.” He explained. He looked at the beautiful red dress he’d seen her in before after one of their arguments. “You look stunning.”

Merida gazed up at him, her head still rested on the ground. Her hair laid scattered around her head. Jack compared it to a sunset.  

“Don’t get used to it. I don’t like wearing it.”

“I can help with that.” The Athenian blood bent down to capture her lips and followed it by kissing around the wound to her neck.

Merida got the hint. “Gladly.”

Jack rose up and pulled Merida along with him. The cold floor was no place to do this.

The daughter of Ares wasn’t much impressed by Jack’s large house. She could’ve had a castle if she wanted. She just had to ask but she preferred a small and comfortable home she could make her own. His queen-sized bed on the other hand… The moment she stepped foot in the room she pushed him on it.

Suddenly Jack couldn’t contain his laughter. His company found it quite adorable.

“Oh faex, I’m nervous. I’m so sorry.” He could not stop giggling resulting in many failed kisses.

“You think I’m not?” Merida crawled onto the bed and leaned on his chest.

“You don’t seem like  it.”

“I try not to be.”  She grinned while she untied her shoes. Nevertheless, her heart was beating out of her chest. Though she enjoyed the thrill of it, the leap was just as existing as what was about to happen. She moved up to kiss him.

The Athenian’s hands trembled as they moved up her body.

 Merida took off her belt and came to sit on his lap. Her fingers traced his jawline, her eyes stared down at him.

Jack was mesmerized by her and whispered her name softly before her lips caressed his. Subconsciously his right hand pulled the fabric of her tunic on her back, his left hand crawled up her leg.

The redhead grinded against his erection. Jack pulled her even closer to him. Gods, why couldn’t they just melt together?

Merida pushed him down and started removing his clothing. Jack stared up at her and combed back a few locks of red hair that were blocking her vision. “You have so much hair.”

“You want me to put my hair up?”

“No” he breathed out. The Athenian lifted his head up and kissed her. Her hair covered his face as she bent over him.

Jack pulled the red fabric off her shoulders and found himself barely breathing as he got to see more skin. It felt as if he was reading a book where he had to close it for a moment just to absorb the material. He closed his eyes and pulled her closer to him. ‘Gods, you’re beautiful.’

He still couldn’t believe she was here in his arms.

Merida caught herself blushing. She suddenly felt Jack softly kissing her chest and her breasts, she let a faint moan escape her mouth. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of his lips against her skin. “Jack, I want you…”

 _You already have me._ He thought. He laid himself down and drew her closer to him, her lips hovering above his.

“I want you too.”

Merida was impatient. She took off her dress receiving staring eyes from Jack. “Your turn.” She smiled at him.

Jack let out a nervous chuckle. His voice was hoarse. _This is happening._ Clothes got pulled off, within the blink of an eye Jack felt her bare skin against his. He couldn’t breathe. He felt himself getting dizzy. His mind was all over the place and yet at the same time only focused on her. He grabbed her tight and rolled her on her back. His hands trailed up and down her body. His right hand stopped eventually between her legs, caressed her lips briefly before he slid in a finger and started slightly pumping. His lips attacked her neck.

Merida was a loud moaner and he couldn’t care less. It made everything feel so much better hearing the sweet loud melody of her voice. It dragged out his own.

He slid in a second. It felt hot and wet. Moving his fingers faster, Merida started to move along with him. Jack moved his left hand to his lover’s breasts.

The Spartan grabbed the back of his neck and pushed her lips on his. Her lover couldn’t keep up with everything. He pulled back his right hand, drawing a loud groan from Merida's throat.  

“I’m getting a little impatient.” It was a lie. If Jack had the chance to stay with Merida like this forever, he would take it in a heartbeat.

“Are you finally?” Merida grinned and noticed his erection was twitching. She pushed him of her and down on his back again. No way was he going to be in control, the redhead grabbed his penis and instantly tightened her grip. She moved her thumb over the tip and moved up and down.

Jack’s eyes shut, he let himself fall back down on the bed, his back arched up. He let out a new sound like a howl.

Merida had no idea what she was doing but she loved his reaction. She was fascinated by it. Her winter-god looked thrown off and couldn’t construct a single word between his moaning. Guess it was true what Deimos said. A man’s brain was between his legs.

Jack felt his body shudder at her touch. He couldn’t come yet. Not this soon. _Gods, I’m weak._ He pulled her hand back, grabbed her waist and shoved her sex against his own. Damn the gods, she was hot.

Merida sung low at the friction as he thrusted against her. She understood what he was implying. “Let me.” She lifted herself up and took his erection in her hand.

“Do I need to-..”

“No.’ The Spartan interrupted him. She was sure of what she was doing. “Just let me do this. Follow my lead.”

 He leaned on his elbows. Merida liked to take control of the situation very often. He didn’t mind. In fact, her confidence aroused him. “Yes, my love.”

Merida didn’t rush herself however she quickly felt how she needed to move and how to move him. Jack’s breathing heaved. She felt a new pleasant feeling between her lips indicating she’d found the right spot.

“Start thrusting.” She ordered. “Slowly.”

Being inside of her felt warm and soft. It was the most pleasant feeling.

The Spartan felt him slither in deeper and deeper. She sat straight up and moved her waist down. Merida felt Jack’s hands grab her hips. His body moved up. The sudden feeling of how deep he was had surprised her. Her head fell back while her legs clasped his waist.

“Did I hurt you?” Jack’s voice cut of the silence.

She laughed in response. “Did I sound like someone in pain?”

Jack blinked several times. He had no idea what to think or how to respond.  

Merida took the moment to continue her movements. The Athenian took her example and started moving along. Though he had trouble adjusting to her rhythm.

The redhead laughed between their kisses and eventually stopped him. “Let me do it.”

Jack wanted to object. They weren’t really in synch but he loved moving in and out of her. He loved being part of the movement. “But-.“

“Let me move, please. Just hold me. That’s all I want.”

Jack thought about it for a second but couldn’t find a reason not to do it. Eventually he nodded.

How Merida knew how to move was still a mystery to him. But damn the gods, it drove him insane. Jack wasn’t going to keep still. His hands crawled up her body taking no moment to rest.

Merida enjoyed his cold touch against her steaming skin. She almost expected the touching of their skins to make a hissing sound. She continued to move up and down on him faster and faster. Her breathing along with his accelerated.

“C-can you go harder?”

The warrior grinned, her eyes closed. “Stop…asking stupid questions.” She immediately putt more force in her thrusts. Merida could hear Jack getting it difficult to keep himself together, she could feel herself losing it, something building up. A familiar feeling returned to her chest.

She could faintly hear him whispering her name in her neck in a husky voice. Her hand grabbed his hair tight. _Damn the gods, that voice._ “Jack, I’m going to-“ She barely finished her sentence she felt herself tighten around him.

Jack pulled himself back to look at her. He stared up at her as she reached her climax. He was hypnotized by the image. Everything seemed to slow down. At that very moment, Jack realised there would never be another. Merida was the one, the only one he wanted to spend his life with. This very moment. He wanted to sculpt it, draw it, write it down. Whatever he could do to imprint this image in his mind forever. Gods, she was beautiful. It took a few seconds before he felt his own body give in. He wrapped his arms around her torso and pushed his face in her neck as he came in her. _Gods, this feeling. This magical feeling._

For several minutes, Merida could hear nothing but their own panting. She enjoyed how everything around them had gone silent. It was only them in each other’s embrace and nothing was there to interrupt it.

“I love this better without the lotus.” Jack remarked in a soft voice.

She cupped his face and looked in his blue eyes. She wanted to give some snarky comment on it but instead she just looked at him and smiled.

 “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

 

 

“He offered me a chance to go.” Merida caught him up to the situation. “I can go.”

Jack remained silent for a long time. The two laid on their sides facing each other. “Do it.”

The demigoddess felt her chest tightening. Her blue eyes stared at him with disbelieve. She swallowed with difficulty. “What about you?”

Her soulmate smiled wryly. “What about it?”

“Jack -.“

“Love, you should go. Your father wants you to live your life, and so do I.” 

“It’s not that easy leaving.”

He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. “I know.”

“I want to stay a little longer.” She knew very well she was postponing the inevitable but she couldn’t leave what was precious to her. Not yet.

“I honestly think that’s not a good idea.” Jack imagined that if she stayed longer letting go would be even more heart-breaking.

“You would do the same if the roles were reversed.”

Jack studied her. There was no response needed. She was right.

“It’s my decision.” She defended herself.

 _It is._ “Very well.” Jack lifted himself up to bend over her. He laid his hand on her neck and admired her face momentarily before he bent down to captivate her lips. Part of him screamed with joy with her decision. Besides, their separation would be far in the future. Right?

* * *

 

 

Jack gave his mother the silent-treatment. He knew she couldn’t stand it. Every question, every order or when she just addressed him, he’d shrug or mumble something and returned back to staring into the cold abyss. He knew it made Athena nervous. Both were aware something had happened. Both were aware the other one knew.  

The Athenian occasionally found himself drifting off to the thought of his soulmate. Her touch dominated his thoughts.

The daughter of Zeus knew she had done something wrong. Something that had driven her son further away from her. She had to change things back to the way they were. Athena had to put him back where he belonged. Back next to her side. But she had to do it differently now. She had to make sure he would stay in that very place forever. The world needed to be introduced to her envision of her son.

“You’re marrying this month and that’s final.”

“W-what?!”

“I am not discussing this with you anymore. You’ve been coming up with only excuses and my patience is running out with you.” She glared down at him, her spear in her left hand. “Or need I remind you what the consequences are for refusing?”

The goddess started to walk away from him but words escaped his throat he soon regretted.

“I can’t marry someone if I love another.”

She halted her steps, she threw him a deadly stare. Unfortunately, she had seen this coming.

Jack had never been more terrified. Why did he say that?

She didn’t say a word. The temple contained a deafening silence.

 _Run_. Was his first thought. _Fight,_ was the second. Perhaps there was a third approach. “Mother please, you can’t force me.”

“What makes you think I can’t?”

“Because you don’t want to.”

“Who is it?” she ignored his last words.

“You really think I’m going to tell you?” he had to laugh at the irony.

“Do I need to get it out of you?”

“No.” he shook his head at the game they were playing. The answers were shot back and forth, both players waiting for the other to get stuck and admit their defeat. “I know for a fact they won’t survive if I tell you.”

She remained silent raising an eyebrow at him. Was he really that confident in his knowledge of her?

“And I want you to know I will never forgive you if you take them away from me.”

“Then we have quite a problem, haven’t we?”

“We do.” Jack tried to keep his gaze cold as she did. He knew they were both stuck here. But he would rather die than confess his love for Merida to his mother. It was inevitable. Jack knew his little adventure would eventually come to an end but just not this soon. He closed his eyes for a moment imagining the redhead before him. _Damn the gods, love hurts._ Why did it exist? He let out a heavy sigh feeling the weight of the situation on his chest. “I’ll leave her. But you promise to leave her alone.” 

Athena couldn’t hide her disgust, her anger. Her disappointment in her son. But he was making compromises, that was more than she could ever do. “Won’t she miss you?” she asked almost arrogantly trying to hide the realization that her son had become a better advocate than she had been the last decades.

Jack shook his head holding his mother gaze. Although he feared Merida wouldn’t leave it with that. There was a large chance Merida would defend his freedom no matter the cost. But he had to keep her safe. He couldn’t keep seeing her forever. “Let me say goodbye and I’ll do what you ask. BUT you’ll let me say farewell at peace, understood?!” he raised his voice which was a mistake. His voice trembled.

Athena could hear it all in his voice: the devastation, the anger, the agony. Since a long time, it pained her. “Very well.” She gave in. She wanted him to do it now. At least this week. “You have three weeks.” She caught herself saying. She noticed his surprise is those words but decided to leave it alone. They came to an agreement, one where she got what she wanted. And to admit, even Athena knew the feeling of a heartbreak. She just wanted her son to be spared of it. There was no need for love, people only got hurt in the process.

Her son nodded silently. His hands were trembling, the lump in his throat only grew bigger. This wasn’t the hardest part, that would be saying goodbye. On weak legs, Jack made his way out of the temple.

“Is there a possibility that you will tell me her name?” she had to admit she was curious to her identity and what made her so that Jack had developed feelings for this creature.

“No. You don’t deserve to know that.” Jack spit out, his back turned to the goddess. “And why would it matter now?”

“I guess it doesn’t.”

* * *

 

 

There was no right way to do this. Jack had been fretting about it all day. He silently sat on top of a pillar in the abandoned ruins overlooking the rest of the woods. This had been such a beautiful place and now it felt gloomy and sad for what was to come. The cold wind hurt his skin for the first time. He leaned his head on his knees and felt himself becoming emotional. _Being part human sucks._

“Why are you up there?”

His thoughts were cut off by her. Her voice, warming as always, now broke his heart. He wasn’t ready. He looked down at the ground. Merida sheltered her eyes from the bright light of the sun with her left hand. In her right hand, she held her bow.

 _I’m not ready!_ He had to fight the tears. _You still have weeks._ A small voice sounded. _You have time. You don’t have to do this now. You can make yourself ready._

Jack let out a heavy breath before he flew down to her. He barely touched the ground with his feet when Merida wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. Their night in Athens had made their bond even stronger.

It was too much at once. The melancholy took over. Jack pulled her as close as he could to him in a tight grasp and deepened their kiss. He felt her surprise and how quickly she eased into his embrace. Jack wanted to cry. For a moment, he felt everything pause. The wind stopped and all sound was gone. He felt her steady heartbeat through her chest. The tingling sensation of her touch and the warmth of her breath.

 He wasn’t ready for it end. He wasn’t ready for the warmth to leave. He couldn’t stop himself from speaking those desperate words. “Stay with me.” He uttered out once their lips parted.

Merida’s eyed showed a certain shock. “Jack…” she brought out a short noise of perplexity when his lips captured hers again. He kissed her fast and vigorously as if he was afraid to lose time. Merida closed her eyes momentarily enjoying the taste but eventually pulled back and pushed her forehead against his. “Something’s wrong.”

“There is.” He spoke honestly. He tried to swallow the lump in his throat. “But can I tell you later?” _You’re talking to Merida, dumbass. She wants to know immediately._

Merida frowned and seemed to consider it. She didn’t say it out loud but something in her mind got it. She easily read it off him. Something had happened. “I’m not going to like it, am I?”

He nodded avoiding her gaze.

She was afraid of that. “You can tell me later.”

 _Thank you!_ Jack hugged her tightly, afraid that if he would loosen his grip she’d slip away from him.

“How much time?” she asked stilly.

“Weeks.”

Merida felt relieved and desperate at the same time. She squeezed him tight. “I am not ending this in weeks, Snowflake.”

His laugh held a sad tone to it. “I figured you wouldn’t.” he sighed. “But for now, can’t we just…” he cupped her face with his hands.

Her big blue eyes shot up at him, studying him for seconds, not wanting to forget his face. Just when she told him to ignore time for a while, it caught up to them sooner than she thought. She realized her hands had been holding his tunic the moment he had taken her into his embrace. She didn’t let go. “You want to watch the stars tonight?” she sounded bitter but all she wanted to do was avoid the matter at hand.

Jack showed a sad smile. She knew how much he liked that and how it putt him at ease. Maybe in some way it eased her as well. “I would love that.”

 

* * *

 

“I still wished we could have found some solution to this.” Merida said after a long silence. Up to this point, Merida had only watched the night sky with the winter spirit three times, one of those times she didn’t remember. This time was the fourth. But now she could only see a dark sky above her. The stars had lost their light in her eyes. “You don’t want this.” The words escaped her mouth before she thought about it.

The two laid down at what was now their usual spot at the ruins. They stared at the stars cuddled up against each other. Merida’s head laid on Jack’s chest. The Athenian had intertwined their fingers.  

“You’re right. The only thing is desire is you.”

Merida her eyes began to sting and didn’t want to look at him. She averted her gaze from the sky to somewhere else, anywhere else but his eyes. Her hand gripped the fabric of his tunic. “Don’t say things like that.” On another day, it would’ve made her blush. Now it just made her sorrowful.

“I may as well before it’s too late.” He sighed.

Merida felt his heartbeat through the fabric. A part of her was grateful Athena had given her son so much time to say his goodbye. But she would always resent the goddess for what she did and who she was.

“You should leave when the three weeks are over.” Jack hardened the grip on her hand. In some cruel way, it would close their chapter perfectly. The circle would be complete. Jack would be back where he started and Merida could carelessly follow her own path again. He was surprised by his own voice failing him all sudden. “I watch you leave… and.” He closed his eyes and paused. “I know you’ll be okay.”

“I’m going to come back.”

Her words surprised him. He jumped up almost throwing her off him. “Merida!”

“I’m not done yet searching for a solution. I’m going to leave, search and when I find it I’m coming back for you.” She finally found the confidence to look at him. She wasn’t letting this go so easily.

 _You’re so stubborn._ Jack shook his head but couldn’t help smiling at her. _Gods, what did I do to deserve her?_ “What if you don’t find it?” He needed to change her mind.

“I’ll let you know.”

“I don’t want you to waste your life searching for something that might not even exist, love.”

“I won’t be searching the whole time, I’ll have my fun on the way.”

“Merida, you can’t be serious.”

She frowned at him. “Dead.”

“What if years go by?”

Merida sat up straight and locked gazes with him. “If I come back years older, would that change anything?” Her eyes searched his, desperate for an answer. “Or would you forget me?”

Jack jumped forward, grabbed her face and kissed her deep. Seconds went by before he released her. Merida pulled back flustered touching her lower lip.

“Never.” Her lover proclaimed. “I don’t care if you’ll be 10 years older, my love for you will never fade over time.”

It was Jack wiping a tear away from her cheek that made her realize she’d started crying. She knew she would encounter so many different people on her journey but nothing would compare with what she felt when she was with him. Merida had no idea who grabbed each other first but soon they were stealing each other breaths. The Spartan wrapped her arms around his neck and let the tears flow down her cheeks. She was certain she felt every emotion possible at once. Longing, desperation, sadness, anger, joy… She couldn’t count them.

She felt herself drowning in white. Soft and cold, she could almost feel herself melting together with him. Jack whispered her name as they found each other time and time again.

* * *

 

 

Jack could feel himself falling apart more and more every day. With weak legs, he stood on the docks. Holding Merida’s bow on his right hand. _To keep it safe while I’m gone._ She’d said. His thumb absently stroked over the carved in symbols. He felt like something was sucking the air out of his lungs. Jack found himself staring at nothing.

* * *

 

 

Gods could change their human form. Although their original form could often still be seen by other eternal beings, to the human eye they were just regular mortals. Ares had already said his farewell to his daughter. Finally grown up, she was ready for the world. He would see her again someday but she had to set out her own adventures. Merida had insisted on leaving alone. The God of War could not help himself, he wanted to see her board the ship and watch it set sail.

His eyes stopped on something that made his skin crawl. Ares felt himself becoming furious but decided not to jump to conclusions yet and stormed towards his sister. “What are you doing here?”

Athena sat on a railing in the clothes of a young Cyrenaic woman. She seemed irritated by his presence. “Well, hello to you too little brother.”

“I asked you a question. Why are you here and why are you in disguise?”

“I believe those are two questions..” She ignored his glare. Athena had more important things to worry about. “I’m searching for my son. Sofia spotted him on his way here.”

Ares clenched his fists. “My daughter is setting sail here. If your little brat does anything to harm her-.“

“There’s no need to threaten, Ares.” Her cold eyes struck him. “My son’s no killer. It’s just coincidence. I’m certain I’ll get out of your way soon enough. No need for a fight.”

“Yet.” Ares was steaming. He could never stay calm around his sister. She always pulled out the worst in him.

Both their gazes suddenly caught a familiar sight. Towards the ship that was waiting for the demigoddess walked a young man with hair white as snow. He wore dark clothing; a Spartan bow was strapped on his back. He stopped one of the sailors.

Ares could hear his low voice. Something about his tone touched him. The young man wore a worried expression on his face.

“She isn’t here yet?” 

The god wanted to yell at him. Demand an explanation as to why he was here with his daughter’s bow no less. But his sister was first.

“Jack?!” her voice was powerful. He swore it could cut through a mortal’s bone.

The demigod looked terrified discovering Athena’s presence. He froze to the ground. Ares knew the boy was pale because of his powers but he swore he could see every colour leave his body. He was unable to make any sound.

The young lad’s eyes shifted from his mother to him. Ares believed he could he could hear the boy’s scary heartbeat where he was standing.

“Ares…” Jack breathed. The demigod felt himself taking a step back. He didn’t know who he feared more.

He wanted to be faster than his sister. If anyone deserved an explanation, it was him. They were on his grounds. He stepped forward, his eyes shooting lightning at the demigod.

“You’re telling me everything.”

He paused letting his furious gaze have its effect on Jack.

“Now.”


	16. Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we watch dreams go up in smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have a lot to say, I'm sorry for taking so long. I shouldn't do long projects like these while working for university but here we are.   
> Second, I'm revising and editing the previous chapters because there were some errors in it and I found a few fragments confusing myself.   
> DISCLAIMER: WARNING -> somewhere in the middle of the chapter you will encounter a scene that involves sexual assault/rape. If you can't read that, that's okay, I'll putt another warning in the fic itself and you can skip it.

Hiccup hadn't wasted a day to come and see his friend at the hospital. The hallway was quiet as always. He tried to ignore the typical medical smell. Jackson's room was the last one. He didn't need to knock because the patient wouldn't hear it.

The young engineer walked inside and sighed at the scene. Still not awake. Three weeks and Jackson still wasn't out of his coma.

"Your stubborn arse better wake up soon." Hiccup mumbled as he took a seat next to the bed, his friend looked pale, worn out. Hiccup wondered if his mind was still awake. "I'm going to keep saying it, you still owe me 50 dollars." Hiccup took a book out of his bag. He knew Jackson had started to study literature. Although it proved not to be easy and to top it, the accident caused a major disruption in his studies. 

"We were at chapter 16, remember?" Hiccup started reading out loud from one of Jackson's favourite series.

An hour passed by and Hiccup had drifted from the story and found himself lost in thoughts. He was startled by the heartbeat monitor going faster than its normal steady speed. His head shifted towards his friend when he felt something touching his hand.

Jackson's brown eyes stared at him shocked. "Where am I?" He wanted to sit up but felt a jolt of pain. He screamed and started looking around him at the room and at the tubes attached to him. "What-?" He panicked unable to find his words.

Hiccup didn't flinch nor hesitate. "Nurse! Anyone!" He pushed the alarm button above Jack’s bed. The next minutes passed in a flash. A couple of nurses and a doctor rushed into the room and attempted to calm down the boy who had just emerged from a coma.

Jackson started to yell, confused and disorientated.

Hiccup found it difficult to look at the scene. He wanted to comfort his best friend. He wanted to help but he couldn't jump into the group of medical hands. Why was Jackson so scared? They were trying to help him.

The young man needed to be sedated. Hiccup went outside at the doctor's request and waited hours, refusing to go home until he could see his friend. The woman walked out and signalled Hiccup he could go inside.

Jackson laid down with his eyes closed. He approached him and carefully placed a hand on his shoulder. His friend's eyes slowed opened and looked at him.

Hiccup took a moment to find the right words. "Are you okay?"

"What happened? Have I really been here for a month?" His voice was weak and low.

It felt weird hearing his voice again. It sounded different as if he was talking to a stranger. "You drowned and fell into a coma." He paused letting the information sink in. "Do you... remember me?" Patients like Jackson often suffered from memory loss. Hiccup hoped his best friend was an exception.

"You mean it's possible to forget the idiot that you are? This isn't _Grey's Anatomy_." Though his body was aching and he had trouble speaking, Jackson showed a smile.

"Dude...don't be like that. You know my name, right?"

Jackson faked a confused frown. "Jay?"

"I hate you."

"Hiccup, I'm messing with you." He let out a chuckle.

Hiccup shook his head. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I want to move but my body is protesting. Even worse, my mind is a blur."

“You remember me.”

Jackson let out a chuckle. “Yeah but my memories are still mixed up.”

Hiccup showed a small smile. He had to admit he was touched. “You still remember me though.” He repeated himself.

Jackson wanted to give some snarky comment but decided to answer with a similar heartfelt smile. He couldn’t ask for a better friend.

“You remember anything from the accident?” Hiccup wasn’t going to hit him with the full scene. According to the paramedics, Jackson was at the docks when he fell over the edge, hit his head hard against the concrete before falling into the water. Not only had he lost a lot of blood but he survived with a severe head concussion.

“Just darkness.” Jackson blurred out.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. “Comforting.” He remarked sarcastically. “You missed a month of Uni. Are you going to manage?”

Jackson let himself sink in the white cushions moaning loudly. “This semester is going to be the end of me!”

“I can find someone to tutor you.”

“I’ll just send a message to the blonde next to me in class. I can’t remember her name but she was very helpful at the start of the course.” With a lot of mental effort, he could picture the girl before him.

Hiccup wanted to say something but closed his mouth again when one of Jackson’s doctors came in.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to talk to Mr. Overland alone. You can visit him tomorrow if you’d like.”

Hiccup nodded. "I'll be back tomorrow." He threw an encouraging smile towards his best friend and left the room.

The doctor placed herself on the side of the bed and carefully started to talk to Jackson about the damage caused to his head and mind. According to their tests, his brain had been wildly active during his coma.

“Do you remember anything? Some patients tell us they can hear and remember conversations held near them when seduced in a coma.”

Jackson shook his head. He lied though. Some images had flashed before him but they felt different like occurring nightmares. Though they also felt like memories but they were not his own. They looked and felt similar to scenes from a fantasy novel but he knew describing those images to his doctor would only confirm her suspicions. Having a wild imagination as well, made Jackson doubt himself already.

“It’s normal that you feel disorientated at first. I would recommend once we let you go home to just pick up your normal life but at a slow pace.”

Jackson stayed silent, his mind was still in scrambles. There was just one answer he needed at the moment. “What happened?” The pieces didn’t fit together for him.

His doctor raised her eyebrows surprised, she figured his friend had told him. “You hit your head when you fell in the water at the docks just a few miles from here. You’re lucky the paramedics were there in time.”

“I-I thought-.”

She frowned at him. Did he remember a different version?

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m still a little…” His phrase faded out in silence.

“You need rest.” The doctor patted his shoulder. At least he had woken up next to a familiar face. “Don’t worry. You’ll get to go home soon.”

Jackson didn’t respond and stared down at his hands. Why was he so weirded out by how his skin looked? He heard footsteps leaving his room. Now he was left with the sound of his own heart monitor. “I’m in the hospital.” He whispered to himself as confirmation. “I’m not in a cave.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I was at the docks. Not in a cave.” He swore a month ago the last thing he remembered was a dark carve and someone with warms hands holding his own before he lost consciousness.

* * *

 

 

“Okay, so I can give my notes from English and World Literature but I need to work on Ancient History before I can send it to you.”

“Raps, I can’t thank you enough.”

Rapunzel smiled at him. “Glad to help. You’ve already caught up on three courses so you’re halfway there.”

“Barely but thanks again.” He couldn’t remember much from before the accident. He recalled a few names of friends, family members and a few other things but his memory had mostly disappeared. So he began from scratch and couldn’t help but feel as a different person than he had been before his accident.

Rapunzel's positive view helped. Both students stood at the entrance to the playing field of their University. A soccer game was held between their school and another, an hour-drive away. Jackson couldn’t recall the name of it but apparently, the other University had a lifelong peril with his.

Hiccup soon joined their company. To Jackson’s surprise, Hiccup wore a sweater with the logo of their school, his face painted with variations of blue. “I’m ready to see someone’s butt get kicked.” He explained.

“I can’t remember you being such a sports fan.”

Hiccup shrugged. “Only when it’s against this school. I’ve studied here longer than you, dude. You’ll get it eventually why they suck.”

Rapunzel eyed Hiccup with a strange but amused look and left the men to find her seat in the stands. Hiccup and Jackson soon followed and found their own seats up front to watch the game up close. Fortunately, they found good seats. On the other hand, that meant there wasn’t a large crowd to watch the female soccer match. Jackson found it shameful. Not because of the way too tight uniforms but because female soccer players were ferocious on the field and Jackson felt like cheering for the fiercest player. They deserved a bigger crowd.

Hiccup tapped on his shoulder receiving his attention. “They’re interviewing players.” He pointed towards a corner of the field where two players from their school and a player from the other team stood in front of an interviewer and a cameraman.

Jackson felt a strange wave of shock hitting him when he remarked the other player. The red curls immediately caught his attention. Her red hair was greatly accented by her flashy red uniform, she looked chubby but strongly built. The unfortunate tight uniform showed off her muscles and her thighs. He felt the urge to see her face. There was something about that figure that looked familiar. Jackson squinted his eyes to focus on the player. She turned to the interviewer revealing her face to Jackson.

She was beautiful.

“Who’s that?” his voice cracked all of a sudden.

Hiccup leaned next to him. “The back of her t-shirt says ‘Dunbroch’. Oh god, that’s Merida Dunbroch! She plays soccer?”

“Remind me who that is?” Jackson threw him an irritated look. How in the world should he know that name?

“Super-rich family. I heard her parents payed for her bachelor and her master’s degree.”

“She’s already doing her master’s?”

Hiccup nodded. “Her parents may be rich but she’s a good student. Though a terrible player.”

“Are you just saying that because she’s from the other team?” Jackson tried to hide the fact his heartbeat had started accelerating, he felt an intense pressure on his chest and he had trouble breathing. What was happening? Was the summer heat getting to him? Did he drink too much caffeine that day?

“A little.” Hiccup wanted to add something when he grabbed Jackson by the shoulders. “Are you crying?!”

Jackson touched his cheek and felt that it was wet. He looked confused at his hand. His breathing faltered. Why did he feel butterflies in his stomach? Why did he have trouble breathing?

“Dude, are you alright?”

“N-no.” Jackson breathed out. He whipped his cheeks clean but the tears kept streaming down. Strangely enough, they felt like tears of joy. _What is wrong with me? Did I eat the wrong brownies again?_

“Are you having another attack? You haven’t had those in months!”

He rapidly shook his head. This wasn’t an attack like the ones had experienced after his accident. “I need to get out of here.”

Hiccup helped him out of the stands and supported him until they reached a quiet hallway. Jackson leaned against a wall and tried to control his breathing like he did when had an attack.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know.” He whispered out.

* * *

 

 

Merida followed her brothers inside a large toy store, the one which the three had been nagging about for weeks. Their parents wouldn’t take them so for their upcoming birthday Merida decided she’d buy them a present herself.

“GAMESECTION!” Hamish shouted. The other two followed.

Their sister soon lost track of them. Merida stood at the entrance of the store and looked around in wonder, this didn’t look like the average toy store. This was a three-store dreamland. An old man, who she swore looked like Santa Claus, greeted her from the register with a large smile.

She responded with a kind nod. She figured he was the owner of the store.

“Looking for something specific?” He leaned on the desk.

Merida took a moment to appreciate the tattoos on his arms. “No, waiting for my brothers to return with games that are way above their age.” She joked.

The man laughed at her remark. Their attention was suddenly caught by a loud discussion in the videogame section.

Hamish, Hubert and Harris all held a game they thought was their best choice. Following them was a young man with auburn hair who took the game Harris was holding and held it up. “You really think your games are better than the freaking Assassin’s Creed franchise?!”

Hubert and Hamish started to yell at him.

“I like the new Tomb Raider.”

“There is a new Tomb Raider game?” The guy frowned. _How did I forget that?_

The triplets laughed at his reaction.

“Haha, make fun of the guy with amnesia. Nothing beats this series, alright!” the young salesperson backfired. Apparently, he was offended because these kids thought his choice in videogames was terrible.

“What about Fifa?”

“Fifa sucks!” He defended not only Harris’ choice but also his own.

“Our sister plays football you know.”

“First of, it’s soccer.” Jack corrected them. “Second, I don’t care. Assassin’s Creed’s better.”

Harris beamed because the salesperson was backing him up in his choice. His demeanour changed as soon he saw his sister was shaken to her core. Merida’s hands were shaking, her skin had gone pale and her eyes were focused on the young man standing next to him. She looked like she’d seen a ghost.

“Meri?”

She didn’t answer. She was paralyzed.

“Guys, there’s a problem with Meri.”

At the mentioning of her name, the other two quickly put their game on a table and rushed to their sister.

The owner of the store reached her before they could. “Miss, are you alright?”

In her panic, Merida violently pulled his hand of her shoulder. “Don’t touch me!”

The storeowner backed away quickly.

Hubert came closer to his sister careful not to touch her. “Merida, do we need get home? Is it serious?”  

She didn’t hear his questions. Her breathing had heaved and she couldn’t control her shaking hands.

“Hey! He was only trying to help.” Jackson interfered clearly angry by Merida's violent reaction.

Her eyes shot back up at him.

The young man seemed taken aback by the sudden eye contact but quickly straightened himself. “There’s no need to react like that.”

Merida wanted to shout something back. He had no idea what could happen if she got too heated. She closed her mouth and stormed out of the store without a word. Her brothers spurted after her.

“What’s her problem?” Jackson huffed.

“You know her? She looked a little shocked to see you.” His uncle asked.

Jackson frowned. “No.”

* * *

 

**WARNING THIS FRAGMENT CONTAINS SEXUAL HARASSMENT, skip it if you don't want to read it. It's okay**

 

Angus never behaved like this. The stead was nervous and hesitated frequently never wanting to take speed. Reaching the docks would take ages. The sky looked ominous and made her weary about what was about to come.

Merida kept herself on edge. She felt as someone was watching her. The clouds became darker. The Spartan gasped when thunder suddenly roared throughout the forest. It surprised Angus causing him to jump making Merida fall onto the ground hurting her back. The horse ran in panic leaving the redhead behind at a large open field of grass.

Merida took a moment to catch her breath. When her sight focused, she saw a dark figure hoovering over her. “Need a hand?”

Her eyes looked at the hand he reached out to her and traced it back to its owner. Even in human form, Merida knew who she was dealing with.

Ares’ daughter crawled backwards and pushed herself up as fast as she could. She didn’t want his help, she didn’t trust Zeus.

“You seem in a hurry.”

“I am. Why are you here?”

The same dark smile appeared on his face. “Direct. I like it.”

Merida didn’t feel like covering her emotions this time. She didn’t like the vibes he was sending. She furrowed her brow at him. “I’m heading somewhere. Thanks for the help but I don’t need it.”

She walked passed him without giving him a look when he grabbed her arm. “You’re not heading anywhere.” His voice grew evil.

Merida was terrified. “Let me go.” She demanded.

The King of Gods pulled her closer to him. His benighted eyes studied her body. “No, I’ll have my fun first.”

Merida held her breath and gathered her powers to loosen herself from his painful grip. “I said: let me go!”

Zeus seemed amused by her attempt to escape him. Did she really think she was stronger than him? “Now, now. Feisty, aren’t we?” Before Merida could grab her weapon, the God grabbed her throat and forced her back on the ground. “I’ll be gentle, I promise.” He laughed at his own words.

Merida didn’t hesitate, every fibre in her body commanded her to fight. She closed her eyes and summoned her fire magic. He wasn’t getting her, she would rather die fighting than give herself to him. Her whole body soon lit up in bright blue flames. The strongest she could make them.

Zeus didn’t flinch. With one snap of his fingers, the flames disappeared.

Merida gasped, her hands flying to his wrists as she tried to force herself out of his grip.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your powers back. After I’m finished.”

His victim still kicked with her feet and tried in all her might to struggle against him.

Zeus leaned into her, grabbed the back of her head and forced his lips on hers.

She couldn’t breathe. Not a sound was able to escape her mouth. She wasn’t strong enough. Every move she made lead up to nothing.

A sharp cry enacted from her throat when he grabbed her hair and coerced her to look at him. “What? No pleading?”

Except for her heavy breathing, Merida stayed silent. Her lips pressed against each other. Her body quivered. She was stronger than this, she had to be stronger than this. She wasn’t going to give him words asking for mercy. She was going to make it difficult for him, painful. She wasn’t giving in without having used all the strength she had left.

“At first, I thought you would be easy to pin down.” Zeus had to use his own powers to keep her down. The lass was stronger than she looked. “But it makes it less boring. So, fight all you want, Princess. It’s going to hurt you more than me.” His hand slid under her back and loosened the belt around her waist.

 “No!” Merida screamed bloody murder. She was still kicking, scratching and pushing. She had to find some way to get out of his grip but her shapeshifting powers were gone as well.

Zeus looked fascinated at the handwork of the belt. “Huh, a cloaking spell. That’s not your expertise.” He threw the belt far away from him. His eyes shifted down at his new captive. He pushed her back down and inched himself closer to her face. “I don’t mind used goods.”

Merida hoped her screaming reached someone. Even though, no mortal would be able to challenge the King of all Gods. There was still a small part of her that hoped, that pleaded, for saving out of this torture.

* * *

 

**(For those who skipped, you can resume the story here.)**

“Now!” Ares demanded.

Jack didn’t know who to look at. His mother threw him the deadliest glare he’d seen, Ares was fuming. Answering Athena would mean immediate punishment for his recklessness. However, answering Ares could possibly be his death sentence. It was a choice between two evils. But one would hurt the ones he loved, the other would choose him instead.

“I-I can explain.” He turned to the God of War.

Ares was surprised the young lad chose to explain himself to him. “I’m listening.” He crossed his arms.

Those words Jack didn’t hear very often. “I’m not here to hurt her. I’m here to say goodbye.”

Ares found it suspicious his sister hadn’t said anything but the less she interfered, the better. Although he had no clue what to ask next, because he already figured it out. Still he asked. “Why?”

Jack’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected Ares to ask him further questions. He thought Merida’s father would’ve grabbed him by the throat by now. “We… I mean I…” his eyes shifted to Athena who had been quiet the entire time. She was brooding something. Jack knew that look. She was waiting for enough information to strike, but it was too late hide the truth, he had to bear the repercussions. “Sir, in all honesty I lo-.” The Athenian suddenly felt something shatter inside his chest. His whole world suddenly filled with darkness. His spell had been broken. “No.” he breathed. He took a few steps back, his hand touching his aching chest.

Ares quickly took him by his arm before the demigod could move. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“She’s in trouble!” he pulled himself back.

“What?!”

“Merida!” Jack didn’t bother looking back at both gods. He sprinted into the large crowd and took his owl form flying as fast as he could to where his cloaking spell had been broken.

* * *

 

 

It felt like an eternity until she heard the shriek of an owl. In a flash, the heavy weight was pushed off her. She could breathe, she could feel the bruises he’d caused but the heavy damage hadn’t been done yet. Her eyes shot open, she pushed herself to see the King of All Gods had been overthrown by a small and frail demigod. The face of the God displayed four lines of blood running over his cheek. She'd never seen a God bleed. 

Jack held the tip of his sword against the God’s throat. The demigod’s face held only fury. “This sword is drenched in Hydra blood. Give me any reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now.”

“You realize who you’re dealing with, right?”

Jack nodded determined. He didn’t care. “You realize who you’ve hurt, right?” He pushed to tip further against his skin. He was ready to see the attacker of his lover bleed.

Zeus laughed diabolically. “You really wanna kill me for having my fun?”

From the corner of his eye, Jack noticed Merida had stood up on weak knees. Her clothes were torn, her body covered in dark bruises, her face was pale but she stood up on both legs and looked down in despise at her rapist. “Do it.” She huffed in fits and starts.

The winter spirit felt himself filling with more power seeing Merida gathering her strength to stand up. He’d expected her to catch her breath, let out her tears. He’d expected her to be shaken to her very core. But her strength and braveness surprised and heartened him each time.  

Zeus lost his grin once he heard her voice. “You’d be throwing off the balance of the Olympus.”

“You think I give a shit?” Jack threatened.

“Put the sword down, Jack.”

Jack had not foreseen Athena to follow him. A few moments ago he had been prepared to kill the leader of the Olympus. Hearing her voice made his hand stiffen. A cold grip took his wrist. His blue eyes shot up at the woman.  

In a split second, he was blown back off Zeus by air magic. Jack fell on his back next to Merida, the sword fell on the grass a few meters away.

“Are you okay, father?” Athena helped him up. Guess the woman who had raised Jack for centuries was not on the demigod’s side.

He could’ve yelled, he could’ve run his sword into the God’s back instead he turned to his love. She was more important than revenge. “Did he?” He saw her legs tremble. Jack felt useless seeing her like this. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. Being there for her was all he could do at this moment. Merida’s legs gave up, she felt her weight held up by him.

She shook her head. Although Zeus hadn’t had the chance to finish what he started, he’d caused a lot of pain. She closed her eyes, her body shivered in fear but having Jack hold her finally kept everything from falling apart.

Jack noticed his sword being picked up by Ares. His eyes shot from him to his sister to his father. “What’s going on?” If Ares had been as fast as his sister in pursuit what would’ve happened?

Jack felt his blood boil. “Your king just raped your daughter.” He felt his words had hit Merida hard. She cringed, her hands on his back tightened their grip on the fabric. But Jack wasn’t going to sugar-coat it. Ares needed to know what happened.

“Correction,-” Zeus arrogantly held up a finger. His other hand cleaned the blood of his cheek. “I tried to have sex with her before I was very rudely interrupted.”

Ares had been staring concerned at his daughter who was being wrapped in a piece of black clothing by Jack. But his face quickly held the same pure anger the young demigod held.

“You did what?!”

Hearing her father’s voice like that made Merida look up. She knew her father was infamous for his fury but she’d never heard or seen it up this close.

“She’s just a stupid girl.”

Almost simultaneously, Ares and Jack erupted.

“She’s my daughter!” Ares growled.

“She’s the love of my life!” Surprised, Jack locked gazes with the God of War. At least they were sort of on the same side.

Zeus’ smirk only grew bigger. “I don’t know why your mad at me.” He suddenly pointed at Jack. “He’s the one who took her virginity.”

Both Gods looked away from Zeus to their descendants, gobsmacked by the news. With that Zeus made his exit. He was gone in a matter of seconds.

 _Fucking bastard._ Jack thought. This wasn’t over. He wanted revenge on the King of Gods.

There fell a deafening silence. Merida grabbed Jack’s chin so he looked down at her. “We can run.” She whispered quietly.

The demigod took a deep breath, cupped her head and shook his head. That was dangerous idea. He kissed her forehead and took his distance from her to stand in between Merida and Athena. “I can explain.”

Merida stayed silent as Ares found her gaze, she didn’t need to explain herself. Ares knew the whole story without realizing it. Shockingly, Ares didn’t blow up. He remained quiet as his eyes told her his thoughts. He understood.

The God let his gaze slide to Jack and then back to his daughter. He frowned at her confused but he didn’t show any anger. Just amused confusion. Why him of all godly deities?

Merida dared to show him a small smile. She’d survived Zeus, she surely could survive a long talk with her dad.

Jack received a more difficult reaction. “There is nothing to explain.” Athena furiously turned to her brother. “Ares, you’re awfully silent.”

“They’re young, sister. What did you expect was going on?”

His answer only seemed to madden her. “Out of all-.” Her cold eyes unexpectedly focused on Merida. “This is the last time you Spartans thwart me.” She made a claw with her hand, her magic attacked the redhead and pulled her up in the air against a tree.

Merida couldn’t breathe and grabbed her throat. Athena’s magic was choking her.

Ares and Jack shouted and grabbed their weapons. “Athena!”

The Goddess ignored them and tightened her grip on the girl.

Jack didn’t hesitate. He grabbed Athena’s wrist and used all his power on her. His touch was so cold it burned her skin.

Athena broke the spell and screamed in pain. How had her apprentice become so powerful?

Merida fell hard on the ground. She moaned loudly while she gasped for air.

Jack took a few steps back as his trace built a wall of ice spikes between Athena and Merida. “She’s not your enemy, Athena!” He raised his voice.

“She manipulated you, pulled you off your path. You will come home.”

Jack shook his head. But he had to make a choice where Merida was left unharmed. “I’ll come with you if you leave her alone.”

Athena’s face displayed something dark, almost as if she was smiling at what she had done. “I can’t do that.”

Jack felt a terrible wave of fear flow through his body. He looked over his shoulder at the Spartan.

Merida was looking at her hands as her skin slowly turned into grey, cold, hard stone.

“Merida…” Jack grabbed her hands as his eyes followed the stone replacing her skin.

He tried his best to concentrate but no magic skill he possessed had its effect. “I-I can’t stop it.” The stone was completely consuming her.

“Jack, look at me.”

 He shook his head, the tears sprung in his eyes. He didn’t want to see her turn into stone.

“Please.” She pleaded.

“You were always better than me.” He finally looked at her. He barely got the words out. He tried anything to stop it but nothing worked. “You’re stronger than me. That always made me jealous. You know that, right?” He didn’t want to say kind or loving words, it would be too close to a goodbye. He didn’t want this to be her end. She didn’t deserve any of this and it was all because of him.

“Snowflake, we had more time than most people get in a lifetime. It’s alright.”

He combed back a few red strains. He started to hyperventilate. “No, it’s not.”

The stone crawling in her skin started to hurt immensely. She let out a groan.

Her father watched it happen from where he stood and dropped the sword he'd picked up. He couldn’t do anything. His magic was the pure opposite from his sister which meant neither of them could ever  undo a spell of the other.

“I love you.”

Jack felt how the hair and skin under his hands turned into solid rock. “I love you too.” 

There was so much emotion in her eyes, in the way she looked at him. Doubt, fear, sadness, pain, panic, desperation but there was still love. Merida clung onto that emotion till the very end.

Jack saw his own touch causing ice flowers on the statue. His vision was blurred by tears. “Change her back.” His voice was low and threatening. Athena had done it, she’d pushed him over the edge. He’d never known how dangerous he could be when he got angry. Guess he was about to find out.

“Change her back!” His voice grew louder just as his powers. Wind and snow started to swirl around him. A storm was coming if Athena didn’t do what he asked. His eyes glowed. He’d never felt so much power, so much anger running through his veins. Jack slowly stood up and glared at the woman he’d once called his mother.

“She deserved everything.” His mother answered him.

“Sister, I will rage war on Athens for eternity. Do what your son asks of you!”

“I’m not her son.” It was her power that ran through his body. Her magic that had conserved his aged. Her name that had caused his fame but he’d never truly been her son.

“I figured you were going to say that.” The Goddess replied.

“I won’t come with you until you reverse this.”

Athena shook her head knowing her problem ran deeper than this. “I can’t be rest assured until the cause of all of this is obliterated.”

Those words scared him. Even worse, Athena hadn’t unclenched her glowing fists yet. Jack heard Ares gasp. His attention turned back to the statue of his significant other. Black lines traced the rock. It was breaking.

“No…”

The rock broke, fell into pieces. The image of Merida fell apart. Jack felt his legs quaver. His mind was filled with too many clouds, he couldn’t think. He just stared at the pile of rocks. There was no repairing this. Merida of Sparta was gone.

Everything was a fog. Jack wasn’t conscious of his own hand reaching for his sword. Once he tightened his grip on the handle, he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to kill Athena.

He screamed. He wanted to ram the blade into her when something stopped him. Within the blink of an eye he found himself no longer in the forest. He was somewhere dark, somewhere cold and damp. It was a dungeon.

The sword fell out of his hand. Someone held him by his clothes against a wall. Dark hot eyes glared at him. “That would’ve been a mistake, son.” Ares carefully let him go.

Jack couldn’t feel his legs. He dropped to floor and grabbed his white hairs, wanting to pull them out because everything was dark, everything was hopeless. Nothing would ever hurt this much.

Because Merida was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If things are getting confusing, everything will be explained in the following chapters. Be patient. As for the previous chapters, they will be altered slightly to be slightly less confusing for future readers.


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